The Gem Morphora
by Phoebe Phoenixe
Summary: THE GEM MORPHORA has been updated. See 3rd section of story or author profile for more information.
1. Hogwarts

Plot: The Gems (Morphora)

This is the story about two twin sisters named Sapphire (SAF-fire) and Amethyst (AM-uh-thist) Whitewater. They are Gem Morphora. Morphora are very rare and are nearly impossible to kill. A Morphora is a witch or wizard that is so pureblood that he/she has magic that runs through their veins…giving them the power to do magic without a wand (but they use a wand to focus their energy.)

A Morphora can use the powers of a metamorphmagus and push its extent: Morphora can take the shape of any magical creature as well (mermaid, centaur, phoenix, dragon, etc.) as take any human form. They have the powers of animagi by birth. They can heal wounds of themselves and others. They can apparate in a beam of soft light. They are attractive and smart. But the most special quality they have would be the ability to use natural elements. Some can control fire and earth, others water and sky. But each individual Morphori (singular—Morphori, plural—Morphora) also have their own gift, which only surfaces in the preteens.

The Gem family of Morphora work best with magic crystals. The crystal corresponding to the name is helpful in using magic. Sapphire Whitewater is skilled with water, air/wind/flight, sky/weather, and ice command. She also has the Inner Eye and the ability to telepathically communicate. She uses a sapphire magic crystal. Though she is the elder one of the two, she can be shy at times. She is a straight-A+ student and is wise in many aspects. Amethyst Whitewater has the control of fire, earth/growth, strength and invisibility. She is also extremely persuasive and can see through most lies. She uses an amethyst magic crystal. She is very much a party girl and guys are her topic. They are both very attractive with the same charcoal black hair. Sapphire has long straight shiny hair while Amethyst has locks of gentle curls, with occasional streaks of color in it. They both have grey blue mysterious eyes.

The twins love each other to death, they are best friends and alike in thoughts but not in manner. They have an older sister named Jade. Their mother is Emerald.

Chapter one: Hogwarts

"Amy! Amy!" Yelled ten year-old Sapphire Whitewater. Her long hair was twisted up into a tight bun as she is in a hurry and can't have her hair getting in the way. "We're going to be late Amy! We might miss the train!" She shouted up the spiral staircase of their grand mansion. She summoned a tray of toast and waited. She had already had breakfast, her sister didn't.

"Wheeeeeeee!" came a voice similar to Sapphire's, as Amethyst Whitewater rode the railing down. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her curls tumbled over her shoulders. She landed gracefully and bowed. But seeing her sister's stern face she smiled a little. "Aw Saphy, we could just _apparate_ to the gates."

"Amy, Dumbledore personally wrote a letter to Mother to let her know we all have to keep a low profile for now. Until he knows for sure there is no threat at school seeing our powers are far too great, we can't really tell anyone except our closest friends—if we meet any…" Sapphire paused._ Were they going to have friends? They were dangerous after all, if they do not handle their powers properly. But they had got tutoring from their mother and that was enough in her opinion. She just hoped other people would understand that._

"HA! What are you _worrying_ about?" asked Amethyst. "We are smart, kind and not to mention _gorgeous_!" Sapphire rolled her eyes. "People will come to us! But even if they don't, I can at least get the boys to—" She broke off giggling.

Sapphire stared at her twin for a second, and then started laughing, too. They maybe sisters, twins, but they will never have the same outlook on the world. They have totally different personalities. Just then, the Hall Clock shouted, "Hey Misses Sapphire and Amethyst! The train leaves in ten minutes, hurry!" Sapphire's eyes widened. She grabbed the toast from the floating tray and stuffed it in her sister's mouth.

"Argh! Whahyuguing! STOFFF!" She choked, but she meant stop.

"Don't talk with your mouthful Amy." Sapphire said not even noticing the situation and looking extremely frustrated with herself.

"Safffffffffy! Help me—cough!" Amethyst screamed. Sapphire snapped out of her thoughts and immediately pointed at Amethyst's throat. A pop was heard.

"You could have done that by yourself!" Sapphire looked worried but slightly amused.

"I wasn't really paying attention on the vanishing chapter—"

"Saphy! Amy! Why didn't you leave yet? I was wondering about all that noise…" came another voice from up the stairs. Another girl about sixteen appeared at the stairs. She was entering her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had wavy auburn locks that were tied up and she wore black horn-rimmed glasses. Her lily green eyes surveyed the situation and her lips broke into a smile. "I will take you with me then…"

Sapphire asked, "Why aren't you there yet, Jade?"

Jade laughed softly, "Mother knew you two are going to have trouble getting to school on your first day. So before she left on the trip she told me to watch you."

The twins raised eyebrows at each other. Their mother was always worrying about her "baby girls". Jade came down the stairs. "Well I have finished packing. We should go by portkey then." She picked up a rusty iron lock on the mantelpiece, "portus." She held it out for the three of them. "Ready, one, two, three!"

Sapphire and Amethyst felt a jerk behind their navel and was pulled up through nothingness and into nothingness. Then suddenly, their feet hit flat ground in front of King's Cross Station. They barely stumbled being so elegant and graceful. The twins have traveled like this many times before, but that does not mean they liked it.

King's Cross was bustling with muggles and they needed to get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. When they were sure no one was watching, they leaned against the barrier causally and was admitted.

They looked around. There were so many wizard families that were not familiar here. Sapphire felt a rock hit the bottom of her stomach. If they had to fit in with this bunch and get know all of them, it must be a joke. Meanwhile Amethyst looked around gleefully and waved at good-looking boys, instantly sending them into a trance. Sapphire saw that she was also attracting the males' attention. _This was not good_.

Jade cleared her throat, "I turned my charm down back at home, but I forgot to remind you. If you keep attracting attention, you might attract more than just the boys…" She said sternly. Sapphire immediately muttered a charm of concealment over her charm. Amethyst looked disappointed but she did the same.

Sapphire whispered, "It's alright, you're still gorgeous."

Amethyst rolled her eyes and laughed, "You are too, Saphy. You might steal my competition."

"But I definitely do not want to, Amy…" Sapphire laughed as well.

The train's whistle blew and Jade pulled them onto the train and levitated their trunks in. To make sure she did not rouse attention, she used a wand. She bid them goodbye to find her friends and told them to try to fit in as well as they can. She then headed off.

"So where do you reckon we sit?" Amethyst asked.

"Hmm…Somewhere empty to gather our thoughts, I guess."

This turned out to be near impossible, as that every compartment was full. At the end of the train they saw a compartment empty except for a really pretty girl with red shoulder-length hair and big green eyes that was absorbed in a textbook. She matched their level at good looks.

Amethyst said, "She's really pretty. We should make friends with her. The pretty people should be together."

Sapphire laughed gently, "What happened to competition?"

"Well I thought that if we were together and we attracted attention it wouldn't be that obvious because we are all really attractive."

"Good idea, although that was not your original intention, was it?"

"Well I want to turn my charm on again."

"No Amy, not until I tell you it's safe." Sapphire looked sternly at Amethyst. She looked down and bit her lip but nodded. They stepped in the compartment.

The red-headed girl looked up, relief washed over her face. "Thank goodness, I thought he was back again. He is so annoying!"

"Um, who please?" Sapphire cautiously asked the irritated girl.

The girl sighed. "A boy with messy black hair and round glasses... He wouldn't be so bad except for his big-headedness. He thinks that I should like him," she rolled her eyes. "He is such an arrogant git!" She shook her pretty head. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually like that." She smiled. "I just hate to be interrupted when reading."

Amethyst rolled her eyes, "You sound like Saphy." Sapphire nudged her in the ribs.

She turned to the girl that was looking at them with a strange expression, "Sorry, we are not properly introduced, I'm Sapphire Whitewater, but please call me Saphy; and this is my lovely twin sister, Amethyst Whitewater."

"But call me Amy." Amethyst smiled sweetly at her.

"I thought you two had something familiar in your appearance but definitely not your personality… I'm Lily Evans. Well sit down. I've heard that we have a long train ride ahead of us."

"Oh? From whom?" Sapphire asked.

At that instant, the door opened and a boy with messy jet black hair walked in, followed by a handsome wavy-haired boy looking bored.

"Him," muttered Lily darkly as she eyed the boy with the messy hair.

"Oh hey Lils! How's everything?" Said the boy with the messy hair.

Lily glowered at him, "You mean, since five minutes ago?"

He chose to ignore this comment and said, "You have company! Hi, I'm James Potter, the best Quidditch player you'll ever meet and future husband of Lily Evans."

Lily glared at him with cold eyes, "What did you say? Potter, you are the most disgusting, big-headed git and you're lucky I don't jinx you right now."

James's smile faded a little. There came a chuckle from the other side of the compartment where the other boy has sat down, looking extremely amused, "Having girlfriend problems, eh, James? Want to borrow the Black charm?"

"For the LAST TIME! I am not his GIRLFRIEND! No matter how much he would like me to be, I will never like some guy who obviously has a head too big for him!" And with that, Lily slammed her book shut and threw it on the seat next to her. She stood up and marched out the door, making careful to shove James on the way out.

The boy in the corner looked sympathetic now, "Sorry James, mate. Didn't think she was that touchy. Then again, all girls are touchy." He looked up at the twins. "I'm Sirius."

Amethyst spoke up, "You'd better NOT be serious." Sapphire knew what she meant. Not all girls were touchy.

But the boy looked plain confused, "Why can't I be Sirius?"

"Because you can't stereotype every girl like that." She looked plain angry now, Sapphire knew how first impressions were with Amethyst, and when she is angry she stays that way for a long time. "And I think you are just as big-headed as your friend here." She looked at James and wrinkled her nose to show her disapproval. James looked a little down.

"W-Wait a minute," The other boy said, smiling a little, "You thought I said I was SERIOUS? Well I did, but I meant my name was SIRIUS, spelled S-I-R-I-U-S, Sirius, Sirius Black." Amethyst frowned, she did not like to be told she was wrong, especially by a person whom she is mad at about why she was mad. "And may I ask your name?" Sirius asked brightly.

Amethyst still hated him but she can't forget manners. "I'm Amethyst Whitewater and this is Sapphire Whitewater, my twin sister." Sapphire smiled a little at him, after all, it was not his fault they misinterpreted his name.

Amethyst said, "I don't want to be rude, but I will go look for Lily now." She turned towards the door.

"No wait! I want to come, too!" James said quickly.

"Sorry, there are a lot of things we WANT but do not necessarily GET! Besides you've already caused enough trouble today." Amethyst turned her anger onto James.

"Well yes, it was my fault in the first place, so I want to come apologize." James argued.

"I'll tell her of your apologies," Amethyst said coldly, "But I doubt she will accept it." And then she left. James stared at the floor for a second and then went to follow her anyway.

"Wait! James, mate! Our compartment is that way!" Sirius yelled after him. Then added to Sapphire, "I'll go after him…" And he left also.

With nothing else to do, Sapphire picked up the abandoned book and looked at its cover. It said: Magical Creatures and Beings. She flipped to the table of contents. And at the bottom there were seventeen pages about the Morphora. She went to that page and began to read about herself.

Sapphire read for about fifteen minutes before she began to get worried about where her friend and sister went. She put down the book and went out the door and down the aisle. No sign of them anywhere. She started walking down the hallway, but decided to take the book to return to Lily. When she went back to her compartment she saw that someone else was there, too. A boy with pale skin and blue eyes was reading Lily's book—totally absorbed on the page of werewolves.

Sapphire's Story:

Thinking about how arrogant James and Sirius were, she decided to confront him, "Excuse me, this is my compartment."

He jumped up, surprised, "Oh sorry, is this your book?"

"Well no, it's my friend's." Sapphire said, taken back on how polite he is.

"I was just walking by on my way to find my friends when my gaze fell on this book."

"Your friends are missing, t—" She faltered thinking it's not wise to say she was alone right now. "I mean, they're missing? Who are they?"

"Oh, just James and Sirius. I saw them heading this way."

"Oh, I'm looking for them, too, uh, they have something of mine," or someone, she thought.

"Really? By the way, I'm Remus Lupin." He said. "And this book has very fair and just views on werewolves and other creatures people believe to be dangerous."

"Yeah, I agree. I'm Sapphire Whitewater. But…I guess you can call me, Saphy." Sapphire smiled, happy to have someone intelligent enough to talk to. But remembering her sister, she felt she trusted Remus enough to tell him. "Actually, my friend and twin sister are probably with James and Sirius. We should go look for them." She turned toward the door.

"You're right." Remus stood up and followed her out, book still in his hand.

She walked slowly among the compartments peeking into each as she went by. No sign of them yet.

"I'll go look in the front," Remus said and walked ahead. Sapphire continued to look in compartment windows when her shoelace became untied. She stooped down to tie it. When she came back up, she found herself face-to-face with a sleek blond-haired, grey-eyed boy that looked to be about in his fourth year.

She took a step back hurriedly. "Well, well, well. What's a pretty face like you doing here all alone?" He said taking a step towards her. "You might meet people that you do not wish to meet."

Like you, Sapphire thought, taking another step back. "I was... um…" She fumbled for an excuse.

"Why don't you just come into my compartment and we can have a little chat and be…friends…" He said in a whisper, taking an even bigger step towards her. Sapphire wanted to telepathically talk to her sister but it was too risky. She hasn't mastered it and could blow out both their minds by accident. And, she thought, even if she did master it, it was too dangerous (interception is possible) and cannot be used if her location was unknown. And Sapphire was supposed to be looking for her.

"Um, actually I was looking for um, my boyfriend and if you don't mind I will be going now." But the blond boy grabbed her arm before she could another move.

"But wouldn't you rather stay with me? Besides, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Lucius." And he pulled her even closer. "Lucius Malfoy."

Just then Remus appeared, coming back from the front, his hand still clutching the book. Sapphire had never been so happy to see another person in her life. She suddenly had an idea. She pulled free of Lucius's tight grasp and said, "Hey Remus." Wrapping her arms around his neck and cooing, "Oh I missed you so much! Don't you dare leave me like that again! Promise me?"

She looked into his eyes and he understood, because he saw Lucius grabbing her arm. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and said back, "I promise…" and kissed her on the lips. Lucius looked at them furiously. Then he turned and went back into his compartment where two thug-looking boys sat.

Remus pulled away from the kiss flushing pink in the face. Sapphire found to her dismay that she was blushing, too. "Sorry about that." She said quickly, "I didn't mean to put you on the spot, b—"

"It's alright. You needed me to help." He said looking at his feet.

There was an awkward silence until Sapphire said, "So did you find them yet?"

Remus looked nervous all of a sudden, his face pale once more (but still good-looking), "Yes but there is a problem and I think you need to come." He turned and walked back to the front with quick steps, with Sapphire closely at his heels.

There was a compartment that was magicked to be bigger on the inside. This was usually where the prefects and Head Boy and Girl had their meetings.

But what was inside now, was definitely not a meeting.

Inside was James, with tentacles sticking out of his cheeks, looking mortified at Lily, who was trying to heal a large yellow boil on her right forearm; then there was Sirius, whose front teeth had grown so big it was hard to keep his balance, staring at Amethyst who had a nasty doxy-like creature chasing at her biting every bit of her it could reach. Sapphire could tell Amethyst was trying hard not to use wand-less magic but trying to vanish or stun the doxy with her wand was to no prevail. Sapphire knew at once what this creature was. The reason it was doxy like was because it was the doxy's cousin, the dragon-doxy. It was invincible to almost any spell, except, thought Sapphire, the portal, which was how it was summoned and vanished. She immediately muttered the counter-portal under her breath so Remus wouldn't know. The doxy was sucked into a blackish nothingness and then, both were gone. Amethyst looked relieved and then puzzled. Then she saw her sister standing outside the door. Sapphire grinned at her. Sapphire was about to run to help the others before she noticed another person in the room. He was strapped back in a full-body bind on the floor and was looking out of breath. He had black hair, a large nose and on his mouth he wore a dark sneer. Sapphire thought to herself that only powerful dark magic could have done this to all of them.

Remus moved to help Sirius and James while Sapphire healed Lily with three blinks. Lily looked puzzled but relieved all the same. Sapphire then moved to help the other kid on the floor. Nearly everyone jumped to stop her. Only Remus and Sapphire were looking confused.

"No Saphy, you can't," Amethyst, said hurriedly, breaking the silence. "He was the one that did this to all of us." She pleaded.

"W-What?" Sapphire was perplexed, still frozen in the motion of trying to help the other kid. She thought it was powerful dark magic. Her eyes moved to the kid on the floor. His eyes were staring with a hateful glare. Sapphire narrowed her eyes. She trusted her sister, but she didn't think there was any first year student here that could match Amethyst's powers and not to mention bring down three other people. He could be a threat.

"She's right, Saphy, you've got to believe us!" Lily said, while James and Sirius nodded solemnly, embarrassed to have fallen in the hands of another student in front of the girls.

"Oh, I believe you," Sapphire whispered. "But let's give him a chance to talk, shall we?" Her eyes gleamed.

Amethyst's story:

She walked out of the compartment, determined to find Lily, when she heard a long sigh. Amethyst looked to her left and saw Lily perched on a seat, looking out the window, in an empty compartment that was magicked to be bigger than it looks. She guessed it was the prefects' compartment but she wasn't sure why it was empty. She knocked on the door. Lily turned her head and saw Amethyst. She smiled weakly. Amethyst saw that there were tears in her eyes.

She went and sat next Lily, putting an arm around her, "It's going to be okay. I know that James is an obnoxious freak, I know."

Lily looked at her, "That's not all that's bothering me."

"What else?"

"Well, I'm…I'm a…a muggle-born…" Lily said, not looking at Amethyst's face.

Silence.

"So? So what if you are muggle-born? I think you are a great friend and we just met." Amethyst smiled at her. Her persuasion powers are making Lily smile, too.

"Really? You mean your don't mind?"

"Why would I? It is wrong to judge a person by blood, not by heart."

Lily looked at her gratefully, "You know, I wish there were more people like you in this world."

Amethyst replied, "There are always the people who judge others by what they look like or where they are from. But there are more people to whom those things don't matter. And the things those people say, are the things that truly matter... I promise, with all my heart, that I will do whatever I can, to prevent you from the harshness of those stuck-up ones, and I KNOW Sapphire will say the same, too, if she was here… let's go back."

Lily nodded and wiped her tears with her sleeve. They stood up and went out the door, Lily in the front. Amethyst was still thinking about what she had said to Lily about being muggle-born. She felt it was something wise to say, like something that Sapphire would say.

Suddenly, a crash sounded in front of her. Amethyst saw that Lily had crashed into a dark-haired first year boy with a large nose. He spilt a lot of potions on the floor. And he was cursing. "Reparo!" The bottles were repaired but the potions burned the floor. These were dark potions.

The boy looked up at Lily and sneered, "So the mudblood is clumsy after all…"

"SHUT UP!" said a voice that belonged to neither Amethyst nor Lily. James wore a dark look on his face and right behind him, Sirius, a hateful look. "Apologize to her right now! What right do you have marching around calling people mudblood when you don't look too pureblood yourself?"

The boy's lip twitched but he didn't say anything. Sirius saw that James had touched a nerve and decided to push it, "I'll bet you just wanted ACT like a pureblood…but you bring shame to it… You probably can't even TELL if she was muggle-born…"

James added, "What's wrong? Did you make a mistake? Did you think a pureblood witch was a mudblood, when you were just a half-blood?"

Lily had heard enough, "Well, when you are done deciding whether or not I am a MUDBLOOD, let me know! So I can watch my back that I don't need you two to come to my aid anymore! That is if, you were even helping!" She turned and shot James a dirty look. Amethyst looked disgusted at Sirius. Lily turned to go but was not quick enough. The dark-haired boy had hit her with a Boil-Pus Jinx. Her arm was swelling and oozing. Lily jumped in shock!

"YOU GIT!" Amethyst shouted at the boy. Her stare alone was enough to bring him down, but as she pointed her wand to the boy's face, James rushed forward and did the Jelly-Legs Hex. The boy dodged and it hit Amethyst. "You idiot!" She screamed and said, "Finite Incantetum." She stopped dancing.

The boy took this chance to aim at James with Self-Choking Tentacles Hex. "Tentacula!" Two huge muscular tentacles sprouted like rapid-growing ivy on his face, and tried to choke him whenever he tried to help with the attack.

Lily on the other hand was coming back for revenge, but Amethyst yelled at her, "No, Lily! You'll get hit again! Go get my sister! She will know what to do!" She nodded bitterly. And as Lily caressed her arm and went outside, Amethyst jumped back in to get the boy.

Sirius was involved, too, at this point. He was having a furious duel with the boy and dodging every which way and shouting hexes at the same time. Amethyst almost admired the way he was able to let out a stream of hexes, but not mixing them up. The boy noticed Sirius was good, so he hit Sirius with a Saber-Tooth Jinx.

Sirius was in the middle of saying a spell when his teeth grew as long as icicles. He stammered and tried to rid it with spells but was not able to pronounce it properly. Amethyst went to face the boy as she thought, these were _only_ first years and already they are so able. Thinking this, made her just a fraction of a second late. The boy had summoned and set a demon on her. She fought it but was not able to do much. It was trying to take her down. The boy with the dark hair stared at her, "Pathetic," and started for the door.

Hearing those words, her anger boiled. NO ONE INSULTS HER! She gave the demon a good kick on the face and took the opportunity to stun the boy, "Petrificus Totalus!" His arms and legs snapped back and he fell to the floor.

"Good job! Am-methyst!" James chocked out.

"Yah! 'Hat wath AWETHUM!" Sirius said with a lisp.

At that moment Lily arrived, she looked tired, "I met a boy named Remus Lupin, and I think he is your friend," she looked at James and Sirius, "He was looking for us. I told him we have a problem and Sapphire needed to come." She looked at the boy on the floor with a pitiful look, "But I guess you handled the problem well enough."

Sirius said, "It wath all Amethytht's goog work!"

Lily shot him a glance, "I never said you did it. Looked like you two were no help" she eyed James's tentacles curling at his throat. James looked embarrassed. At that moment the demon jumped up and attacked Amethyst again. Lily rushed forward, but all of a sudden; her boil started to hiss and turned a yellow color. She looked like she was going to vomit. She refused to say any spell.

Amethyst tried to get to her but the demon pulled her hair. She swiped back at it. To her surprise, it was sucked into black nothingness. She looked to the door and saw a good-looking pale-skinned boy. And next to him was her sister. Sapphire grinned from ear to ear.

Twins' Story:

Sapphire stooped down and took out her wand. She made a huge show of waving her wand on his head, but she was really just taking the spell off his face with healing magic. And only his face, because she didn't want him jumping up and attacking everyone again.

His disdainful glare wore off his face and he blinked several times. He tried to sit up but realized he could not move. His eyes narrowed into angry slits, "What did you do? You mudblood-lovers!" Sapphire put up a hand to stop the others from jumping down his throat. And surprisingly, everyone obeyed and shut up. She was a natural leader.

She stood up, and with a flick of her wand, levitated him into the air and over a seat. "Stop! Stop it! Let me go!"

Sapphire sighed mockingly, "As you wish," and dropped him on the floor. He glared at her; too angry to speak, and too powerless to act. "I'm too lazy to stoop to your level," She said indifferently, "But I warn you… NO ONE harms MY friends." She flicked her wand again. And the boy flew into a seat. A look of helplessness flickered on his face. Sapphire lowered her face down to his eye level. "What is your name?"

He stared at her for several seconds. His lips parted to an answer. "Severus Snape", he said in a menacing whisper.

Sapphire shrugged, she did not care who he was. He had no right to treat her friends like he did—with dark magic. "How do you know so much dark magic?"

"None of your business." He spat.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes. "Well, it's either you tell us or you tell the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore." The boy just stared at her. "That's right, Snape, Dippet is retiring."

He scoffed, "Both are crackpots, as far as I know."

Lily gasped. So far everyone had been holding their breath in the interrogation, but Lily couldn't believe someone had the nerve to insult Dumbledore.

Amethyst spoke, "Crackpots or not, they know what dark magic is and they are going to put a stop to your staying at Hogwarts. Or maybe a stop to…you."

Snape sneered, "Trying to back up your sister? Or twin?" He looked at them and smirked even more. "Pathetic."

"Shut up! You do NOT have the right to talk!" Sirius yelled at him.

James had taken the tentacles personally, "Maybe we should just stun him again... and stick him in the food trolley...no, that will scare the food lady..."

Sapphire once more put up her hand. They silenced. "Not until I have an answer."

Lily, who up until this point had not said much, asked timidly, "We should just leave him be. He must not know how wrong he is."

"No, you're WRONG! YOU FILTHY MUDBLOOD!" Snape yelled.

"SHUT IT, YOU UGLY OLD GIT! The only thing that is filthy right now is that big nose of yours! Were you born with such an ugly nose, or did you jinx yourself?" Amethyst yelled back.

"Well, you're not getting anything out of me." Snape said and turned his head away.

Sapphire put up her hand for the third time. "Then, we probably won't be able to get an answer then. I changed my mind about finding out about your dark magic. I don't feel like turning you in, either. You may go." She nodded her head and said, "Finite Incantetum."

Everyone shot Sapphire a look of utter disbelief, except Remus, who was silent this whole time. Sapphire just smiled back at them. Snape stood up and walked to the door. He tripped just outside the door. He got up and cursed under his breath, walking away.

"Who did the Trip Jinx?" Amethyst asked, recognizing the magic.

"I did," Sirius raised a guilty hand. "Sorry, couldn't resist." Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"But why did you let him go?" James asked Sapphire. Lily looked up at Sapphire, too. Everyone now looked at her. Remus cleared his throat.

"My name is Remus Lupin. And if I may answer for her, we now have the upper hand. By not turning Snape in, we did him a favor that he is bound to return, or we have the pleasure of turning him in anytime we want to." He said looking at Sapphire also.

Sapphire's face broke into a grin, "Exactly."

"But he might not admit it—"

"Yeah, he could very well lie, that dirty old scumbag of a—"

"What if he tries revenge…"

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Sapphire shouted. "Firstly, there is no point in not admitting it, because it is his word against the many witnesses we have; and secondly, Dumbledore is a living lie-detector, so I doubt he will get away lying; and third, do you really think he will stand a chance on revenge after today?" Sapphire smiled confidently.

"No, I suppose not." Grinned James. Everyone nodded in approval. Sapphire smiled at Remus, making him pink again. Sapphire thought to herself, Remus Lupin, the amazing color-changing chameleon.

"So… Shall we go back to our compartments?" Amethyst asked.

Murmurs of approval were followed by everyone trying to squeeze out the door at once. Remus was pushed against Sapphire by Sirius getting roughly shoved by Amethyst, who was having a hard time with James squashed against Lily, "Gerroff me, Potter!"

Sapphire grabbed the nearest collars—Amethyst and Remus—and the three of them stepped back, making room for Lily to escape from James and Sirius to stroll out. Remus was still holding the book all this time, "Oh wait! Whose book is this? I have to give it back! Here, why don't you take this for now and return it for me, Saphy, is it Lily's?" Amethyst raised her eyebrows at the word, "Saphy." Why not Sapphire? Sapphire smiled at her weakly, and took the book. Remus noticed the awkward moment and bid them goodbye to change into his robes.

"So," Amethyst said, "So."

Sapphire couldn't help but giggle at Amethyst's behavior, "Wait! Let me explain. It's not what you think." Amethyst raised her eyebrows again. Sapphire continued, "I was just happy that I had someone else so intelligent—other than Lily—to talk to."

"Oh," Though she didn't sound too convinced, "Just to talk to? Nothing else? It wouldn't be fair to me, you know."

"Nothing else, Amy." Sapphire felt the kiss Remus used to save her was not official.

Amethyst nodded. "Let's go get changed, too."

They made their way to the back of the train and to their compartment. Lily was already looking for her robes in her trunk. Sapphire sat down at her trunk and gave Lily her book, "Sorry, I just borrowed it for a while."

"That's fine. It's a great book, isn't it?" Lily smiled.

Sapphire nodded while taking out her neatly folded robes. Amethyst took out her robes which were a bit messy next to Sapphire's. They had both disliked the high-collared uniform and customized the robes using magic. Sapphire had trimmed hers to have a smart, pointy collar and wide flowing sleeves and hem. Amethyst gave hers a slim rounded collar and Arabic-style sleeves.

The three of them changed quickly and fell back into conversation again. They talked about how excited they were to go to Hogwarts.

"I've heard they have an amazing view of a deep blue lake." Sapphire said appreciatively. She loved water. Maybe she will transform into a mermaid and explore there sometime.

Lily cocked her head to one side, "Is it true they have a giant squid in there?" Sapphire stiffened, maybe swimming there isn't such a good idea after all. "But it should be very friendly according to Dumbledore." Sapphire let out a breath of relief.

"Wait when did you meet Dumbledore?" Amethyst asked Lily.

"Oh, he was afraid that my parents would not let me go. He said that he could see I had a good future in magic. But it turned out my family was very proud. Well, except for Petunia."

"Oh? Who's that?" Sapphire was interested.

"My annoying sister—she absolutely despises me. Even before I got accepted to Hogwarts, she envied me. She envied everything about me from my looks to my marks at school."

Sapphire and Amethyst both started talking at the same time, Sapphire wanting to know of her school marks and Amethyst asking about how her sister looked.

"Yes, I had good marks at school, and Petunia would remind anyone of a horse." Lily giggled. She hasn't felt this open for a long time. Ever since that time she made a carton of milk explode over another girl's head for teasing her, she has been isolated from others. Now she feels complete again.

Sapphire stared out the window. It had started to rain lightly. The sprinkles dripped against the window and Sapphire entertained herself by practicing her magic. She commanded water drops to bond and separate and bond again. She bounced some raindrops back into the sky. She sighed contentedly.

Amethyst was playing with her hair. She pointed her wand at it and it showed blond streaks. She didn't have to use a wand, she can morph her appearance at will, but she used a wand to not look suspicious.

Meanwhile, Lily had opened her book again and was reading about goblins. The goblin in the picture was standing in front of a marble white structure that was the wizard bank.

The twins have been there over the summer to buy their supplies for school. They wanted a snowy owl but they didn't have those rare ones. They both bought Cleansweep Six broomsticks. They had also put spells on them to make them better and go faster. Sapphire added waterproof, non-slip spells while Amethyst did a firepower spell. The twins may be tall and slender, but on the Quidditch field, both are bullets of blurry color. They had a Quidditch pitch in the backyard. It was disguised as a small greenhouse. But inside was huge! There was lush green grass underfoot and an enchanted ceiling to take to the skies above. There were even a few stands for others to come watch…

Soon, the Hogwarts castle loomed into view. As intimidating as it can seem to some, the twins found it very warm and welcoming. The train jerked into a stop outside Hogsmeade Station. The trio grabbed their trunks and made their way to the door. The rain had stopped. But the air outside was still chilly and cool. Their breath came out as puffs of steam. They walked to the edge of the lake where a tall wizard with a small beard who looked to be in his mid-forties was directing the other first years.

"Alrighty! Leave yer trunks 'ere! That's right! Leave 'em 'ere! They'll be taken care of later! Now into the boats! No more than five to a boat please! No shovin'!" He shouted out to them with an amazingly loud voice.

The wind was pulling at Sapphire's hair. She thought, well it has been up all day in a tight uncomfortable bun, so she let it down. It uncurled and flowed with the wind. It added to the ultimate feeling of peace as she stood at the foot of a boat in a midnight blue lake.

Amethyst was flashing her blond streaks at some boys who were dropping their jaws at them. Nope, they did not have their charm on, but somehow it was still working. Lily was getting attention, too. She smiled politely at them. Her crimson, shoulder-length hair was swinging in the breeze. They looked across the lake at the mighty castle. It looked very warm and cozy inside. But suddenly—

"Oi! Evans!" Yelled an all-too-familiar voice. James Potter came strutting over. "Let's all get into a boat!" Then he suddenly looking at Sapphire and Amethyst, "Did you two do something to your hair?" They nodded smiling a little. Actually, Amethyst was looking a disappointed. She was hoping to get more of a compliment. And she did.

Sirius, who just caught up with them, said, "That's really pretty Amethyst. And Sapphire, you, too." Sapphire smiled knowingly. She knew Sirius fancies Amethyst a bit, and he was being polite by commenting on her. Or just not trying to be obvious.

"So how about it, Evans? We can go on a separate boat by ourselves, if you want." He joked. Lily just turned her head. If she ignored him, he might just go away.

Oh, how wrong she was.

"Are we all going on the same boat? I mean we have six people—" Sirius stopped and looked around. "Where is Remus?"

James stood on his toes and looked around. No sign of him. "Where is he? All I remember is going off the train and Remus was taking his trunk out, right behind us. Where did he go?"

"Wait, James, didn't he say something about having to meet with Dumbledore or something?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, it was something like that. Do you reckon he got in trouble ALREADY? I mean, WE are troublemakers, not Remus…" He laughed out.

Sapphire didn't find this very funny. She was worrying for him. They were after all, just first years. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Jade walking towards them, with her group of Ravenclaw friends. The twins waved to her and she waved back and then they disappeared into one of the carriages. Then the gigantic figure of the wizard leading the boats strode over to them. He leaned down and looked at them at eye-level. "Are yeh ready teh go? Everyone else is." They looked around. Sure enough, everyone was in boats and swaying in the water. "Come on now… Ahh… nice little boat fer ya. In yeh go," He instructed. The group reluctantly obeyed. They still haven't found Remus.

James took a chance, "Erm, Prof—er…sir?"

"The name's Hagrid. And who are you?"

"James Potter, sir. And, my friends and I were wondering where our other friend, Remus Lupin is."

"Remus Lupin? Ah, yes, the headmaster did mention something about him. Well, he is not in any kind of trouble I know fer sure. But I dunno what he is gone fer, though. Sorry…" And he stood up and hollered to the boats "Move out!" And then he winked at them as he got on another boat himself. "Nothing to worry about, though."

The boats slowly glided out over the lake. Sapphire looked down at the dark waters. She tried seeing beyond the surface but it was impossible. Though once or twice, she was sure she saw some movement in the depth… Meanwhile Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut and was looking a bit green. Fire element Morphora don't do well on boats. They get seasick easily.

There was a shuffle in the boat and Sapphire tore her gaze from the waters unwillingly; Amethyst opened her eyes just a little. When they got on the boat, Sirius and James were in front and Lily sat on the other side of Sirius and then the twins, with Sapphire next to James. Lily had picked what she thought was the farthest from James. But then, as the twins watched, rolling their eyes, James and Sirius switched seats. Lily frowned and looked away. She was going to ignore James until he grew tired of her.

James said, "Hey Evans, I'm sorry. We must have got off to a bad start. Want to start over?"

Seeing she had no choice but to reply, Lily looked at him, "No."

"Oh, come on. Don't you have at least something nice to say to me?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

James mouthed something to Sirius. Sirius laughed. Lily mouthed to the twins, "Next time, I'm sitting in between you two." Sapphire smiled and nodded, though Amethyst didn't look too thrilled about sitting next to those two.

The boat hit shore and Hagrid was commanding the first years to go into the castle to the Great Hall. The twins were so excited. As they entered the Great Hall, they saw that all eyes were on them. A few people from the tables smiled and waved, but otherwise, just silence.

The staff table was chattering excitedly about something, but the twins couldn't see why. Suddenly, the great oak doors opened again and Albus Dumbledore walked in. His graying auburn hair swept behind his back. His face was crinkled up in a warming smile and his half-moon spectacles shined joyously. And behind him, was none other than Remus Lupin.

"Just in time for the sorting, Mister Lupin. Now, wouldn't you go join your friends over there?" Dumbledore smiled over at the twins, Lily, James and Sirius. They exchanged looks. Dumbledore is a sharp man, never misses anything. Remus could have told Dumbledore who his friends are, but even Remus looked confused as he walked over to them.

"Hey Remus, where were you? You had us worried." James whispered as everyone's eyes followed the headmaster as he went up to the staff table.

"Um… I was… uh…" Remus stammered.

"Just spit it out!" Sirius demanded loudly. Several people turned to look at them. Sirius continued to look at Remus. Remus only shook his head. By this point, everyone had resumed their chatting.

At that moment, a tall wizard with long amber hair, carried out a patched hat on a stool. Everyone hushed quickly. He set the stool down and placed the worn hat on it. The hat shook its tattered point and its lips parted,

"Beware! Oh ignorant ones!

Stand forth! Heroes and heroines!

For there is soon to be—

Evil so strong, running free.

Time runs out,

For those without

Wisdom, bravery, or skill needed

And those that have not heeded.

Hogwarts is the safest spot,

Do not worry, fear nothing not,

For here is your full protection,

And evil shall not escape detection.

Just stand strong!

Don't do wrong!

Pay cautious attention!

Don't get in detention!

Our newest students shall be sorted now,

Into houses, and here's how,

Just place me over the top of your head,

And let me decide for you instead.

Gryffindor is the house of the brave,

Lion-hearted, not betrayed.

If your time is to be dutifully spent,

Come to Gryffindor; friends to the end.

Then we have lovely Hufflepuff,

The kindest personality, not rough,

A badger in the shyest sense,

Never trying to do offense.

Next is sharp-eyed Ravenclaw,

The most intelligent the world has saw,

A witty eagle is the right symbol,

To achieve the uttermost knowledge is goal.

Lastly, there is cunning Slytherin,

Shrewish characters and sneaky wins,

A serpent in the slyest eyes,

Don't try to trick them, don't tell lies.

As I reach the end of the song,

Let me remind you again, be strong,

Do not fear you're in the right hands,

But do beware, where you stand."

Everyone stared as the hat gave a final twitch and drooped. The tall wizard cocked his head to the side and was silent. Then, he shook his head and took out a long flowing parchment. "Ahem, uh, as I call your name," He said in a calm but strong voice, "Please step up to the stool and put on the hat." He then summoned half moon spectacles and perched them on his nose. "Abbot, Otis!"

A thin boy walked up to the stool and put on the hat. The hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" A round of applause sounded from the Hufflepuff table.

"Black, Sirius!" Sirius strolled to the stool. Girls giggled as he sat down with the hat.

"Gryffindor!"

Applause.

"Blackstone, Kurtis!"

"Slytherin!"

More applause.

"Cornwallis, Franklin!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Applause again. And so it went. Both Lily and Remus got sorted into Gryffindor as well. They sat down and grinned over to where the twins and James were still standing. It was almost James's turn. They were already on the P's.

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

Long pause. Some people coughed. The small boy on the stool looked like he was praying. His eyes were shut, and his hands were clasped so firmly together his knuckles were white.

"Gryffindor!"

Scattered applause.

"Potter, James!" James smiled and walked casually up to the stool, his hair as messy as ever.

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted the minute it brushed his head. James ran down over to Sirius and sat down. Remus and Lily were there, too, paying attention to the twins.

"Snape, Severus!" The black-haired boy they saw on the train walked up.

"Slytherin!" The boy smirked as he got off the stool.

"Sapphire?" Amethyst asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"What if we don't get in Gryffindor?"

"Well, Morphora generally do."

"What about Jade?"

"I said, GENERALLY."

"But what if we end up like her?"

"Shh… it's almost our turn."

The tall wizard was on the U's now.

"Umbridge, Dolores!" A squatty, chubby girl with long frizzy hair walked up.

A pause. She too, looked as if she was praying.

"Sss—Gryffindor!" She looked relieved as she stepped off. She nearly fell, being so short.

"Whitewater, Amethyst!" Amethyst looked at her sister.

Sapphire smiled back, "Go on, Amy, I'll be right behind you."

Amethyst walked up to the stool. The houses had suddenly got very quiet. All eyes were on her. The boys looked sheepish and the girls looked longingly at her beauty. Amethyst put the hat over her head. It was too big. It slipped over her ears and stopped at her eyes. She saw the crowd and shut her eyes quickly.

"So," the hat said softly. "I can see your intelligence. Ravenclaw maybe… or Hufflepuff…. No…. you are far too brave… then you must be in—Gryffindor!" Amethyst breathed a sigh of relief. She walked down and smiled at her sister.

"Whitewater, Sapphire!" All eyes were on her this time.

She put on the hat and it spoke, "You've got all that your twin has… You will be with her then—Gryffindor!" Sapphire smiled and went off to join her sister and friends. Only now did the twins realize that the Gryffindor table was exploding with applause. They smiled happily.

The twins then turned at the conversation the others were having. James was saying, "Just tell us where you were Remus!"

"I CAN'T!" Remus half-shouted, his face a mix of fury and not understood. He was breathing heavily and he looked away. He stared at the empty plates in front of him, and then buried his face in his hands.

There came the tinkling of a spoon against a goblet. The tall wizard had taken seat at the staff table and was next to Dumbledore, both looked so similar that everyone stared. The headmaster stood up and gave his start-of-term speech.

"Welcome back, to another year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As many of you may know, though some may not, I, Albus Dumbledore, am your new headmaster at Hogwarts, replaced a while back. But I heartily greet all returning students and ask them to set a good example for the first years." Remus had become very still. Even when he had his face buried, he wanted to know what the headmaster is saying. Dumbledore took a breath then looked solemn, "We have all heard the sorting hat's song, and we may all interpret it differently. However, I must ask that you all heed the rules extra carefully this year, for it may the most crucial to learn…for certain ones amongst us."

He blinked behind his spectacles. "And now I shall introduce new faces that you may see around this year at Hogwarts." He turned to the tall wizard that looked like him. "This is Aberforth Dumbledore, my younger brother. You may see him around many times this year. He is here to help around the school." Aberforth Dumbledore stood up. He gave a nod and a bow, and then sat back down.

Dumbledore smiled kindly towards the other end of the table. Only then, did the six of them notice Hagrid, the man from the boats. He smiled at them. But Dumbledore was not talking about him at all. Out of the shadows stepped out a man with black hair plastered to his head and a sneer on his face. In his hands he held a small kitten with alert and tattle-telling eyes.

Sapphire's story:

"This is our new castle caretaker, Caretaker Filch. He and his kitten, Mrs. Norris, will be patrolling the corridors at night. He has the right to give out detentions as the professors. Do not get on the wrong side of him." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes. "With everything said, we shall now, dig in!" And immediately, foods of every sort appeared on the dishes and spread over the tables. Everyone realized how hungry they were and dived in. Sirius and James even dropped the subject of Remus's absence. And Remus again, was silent. He ate his food quickly and then went to the bathroom. James and Sirius were so busy eating they ignored this.

Sapphire didn't, though. She kept an eye on Remus the whole time. She didn't want to intrude on his privacy but she WAS curious. She ate her food silently. Her soup was steaming hot, but she didn't realize it. "Ouch!" She stuck out her burning tongue. Amethyst and Lily looked at her helplessly. Sapphire excused herself and ran out into the entrance hall. She fanned her tongue rapidly. Then, looking around, she saw no one.

She pointed a finger to her tongue and used her ice power to cool it. She used too much, though, and the cold made her sneeze. She scolded herself for being so careless. She turned to go into the Great Hall again, but it was blocked by someone coming out. And it was just her sheer dumb luck to have walked into this person.

"Malfoy," She cursed.

He smirked at her, "Aren't you a little TOO happy to see me?"

"Get out of the way, you git."

"Lost the shyness, did we?" He stepped towards her. "At least there are two of you. The more, the better…"

"Leave Amethyst out of this!"

"So that's her name. I had forgotten since I was keen to look at you."

Sapphire would like to have slapped herself.

"Go away before I make you!" She screamed at him.

"Oh? You're going to make me? I'd like to see you try." He smirked. "If you follow the rules, you won't do magic in the hallways."

"Who said I was going to use magic?" Sapphire raised her eyebrows. With a swift fist she had knocked Malfoy clean off his feet and to the ground. She was not only sporty on the Quidditch field. Amethyst could do better, though, she thought.

Cursing, Malfoy shoved himself to his feet, "So that's how you want to play?" He started lunging forward but someone else had moved into the picture.

Aberforth Dumbledore walked out of the Great Hall. His electric blue eyes were similar to his brother's as he surveyed the situation. "Is there a problem?"

Malfoy looked as if he was going to spit fire any moment, "No, Professor."

"Not a professor, just sir will do."

"No, sir, no problem."

Sapphire stepped up, "I beg to differ." She looked at Malfoy. He widened his eyes. She will spare him this time, though. This way, she is almost blackmailing him without anyone finding out. "But it's nothing now. We have it ALMOST all sorted out."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Well, then. I'm going to turn in for the night." He smiled down his beard at them. "It's better than hearing my brother drone on and on." Sapphire laughed. She had never yet seen anyone to talk about Dumbledore that way.

"Goodnight, sir."

" 'Night, Miss Whitewater, Mister Malfoy." And he gave a nod and went up the grand staircase.

Sapphire turned to Malfoy. She could tell he was doing some thinking. If he attacked her, she would yell and the younger Dumbledore would come bursting down the stairs. If he didn't, though, she would get away with this. If he told a professor that she punched him, that would make he seem like a tattle-tale and a loser. Besides, they would just say he was lying, because he said himself there was no problem.

Sapphire smiled innocently at him, "No hard feelings?"

He sneered, "I'll get you next time. Someday, I will."

"Oh, I'm really scared now." Sapphire muttered. But at that moment someone else said something.

"Not picking on innocent first years, are you Malfoy?" A tall, handsome fifth-year was walking towards them. He bore the Hufflepuff crest on his robes.

He extended his hand to Sapphire, "Amos Diggory. Pleasure to meet you."

"Sapphire Whitewater…and the pleasure is mine." She smiled sweetly. If she acted like this towards another boy, then it is likely that Malfoy would lose temper.

"Back off, Diggory! We all know who's dead attracted to any pretty girl. I SAW HER FIRST!" Malfoy practically shouted. Behind him, his two thugs came walking out.

"Uh, Lucius, we were sent by Slughorn to get you." The bigger one said.

"Shut up, Goyle, can't you see I'm busy?"

"But, Lucius—" The other one retorted.

"You, too, Crabbe. Why don't you come here to help me instead?" Obediently the two walked over.

Amos Diggory did not seem intimidated, "Lucius, I have been made prefect, whereas you, are still a filthy vermin and unworthy of my time." He turned to Sapphire and took her hand. He kissed it and said, "I have to go and see if I need to collect the Hufflepuff first years now. The feast is going to end in half an hour. Have a nice evening."

Sapphire smiled back, matching his charming manner. He walked into the Great Hall. Malfoy was still there. She frowned, "Aren't you ever going to leave?"

"No."

The thug named Goyle spoke up, "But Lucius, Slughorn said, now!" He saw the look in Lucius's eyes and added hastily, "I think it's about Quidditch!" Malfoy's frown subsided almost immediately.

"Well, in that case, tell him, I'll be right there." He ushered them off. They shuffled back into the Great Hall.

Sapphire turned away. "If you won't leave, I will." And she marched right out the great oak doors.

Sapphire looked out at the peaceful lake. There was a large beech tree next to the lake. It was angled and sloped towards the outside. That is a perfect place for a picnic, she thought to herself. She started for it and then noticed a lone figure under it. The person was lying down.

Sapphire was curious to who this might be. The person looked to be fast asleep. What if something from the Forbidden Forest came and attacked this person! Or worse, what if he is already dead? Sapphire quickened her steps. She must wake the student. In her hurry, she almost tripped over a rock. She quickly lit her wand, "lumos."

But when wand light passed over the figure, she noticed who it was—Remus. She knelt down beside him and put her head on his chest. Good, he was still alive. For a split second there she was scared. He stirred and woke up, thoroughly surprised to see Sapphire on him.

"Argh! What the—Sapphire?" He winced at the bright light of the wand.

"Oh, sorry." She quickly put it out. She knew how irritated she would be if someone had shone light in her face.

"It's alright, Saphy." He pushed himself up on elbows. "It's so comfortable here. I must have dozed off looking at the stars."

"Yeah, the enchanted ceiling may be enchanted, but it isn't the same." She looked at the sky. Then she frowned, "But you should be more careful! You should have taken someone with you! If I didn't just happen to come across you, you would be left here and something could have happened!"

Remus bowed his head. "And who would I take? If you didn't notice earlier, James and Sirius wouldn't leave me alone."

"Yes, but, you were missing and everyone was worried."

"Even you?"

"Everyone, Remus."

"Then it should stay this way."

"What do you mean?"

"There are things about me I'd like no one else to know, if I can help it. I have secrets, Saphy."

Sapphire looked him in the eye, "We all do, Remus. But seriously, where were you? If you were with Dumbledore, it can't be a bad thing, or such a big deal to tell."

"I was…" He faltered. "Please don't push me, Sapphire; please don't do this to me."

Sapphire could tell he felt hurt. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Remus. I can live without."

He looked at her, and his face broke into a handsome grin, "You're not really leaving me a choice, though."

"Well, it depends, do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"So you trust me not to tell the others,"

"I—yes, Saphy, but—"

"Then you can tell me."

Remus chuckled, "Sapphire, I'd known you are a witty one the moment I saw you on that train." He sighed, "But there are things I keep secret that you might find out eventually. And I don't want that to happen."

Silence.

Sapphire spoke slowly, as if pondering on every word, "But you can tell me where you went right?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Well, I'm not stopping you now."

Remus looked at her, "Well, as you know, the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station. I got off and told James and Sirius I was going to meet with Dumbledore, as he had informed me on the letter. But typical James and Sirius, they were too busy arguing about how to get at Snape to listen. So I left and walked to the edge of the station." He stopped and looked at Sapphire. She was nodding and motioned for him to go on.

He sighed. He hoped that she would spare him. "Professor Dumbledore was waiting for me there. He said that we were going to view a spectacular event today. And he grabbed my arm and apparated us to the gates of Hogwarts. We were admitted by the caretaker, Filch—the one we saw at dinner—and his kitten. Dumbledore then led me to the other side of the lake." He pointed to the opposite bank. "I saw a tall witch there, moving a mound of dirt out of the earth. She threw in what looked like a gray coffee bean. And then she moved the dirt back over it again. She looked over at us to say hi and told us to stand back. The three of us moved back and she levitated a potion over the fresh-turned dirt and emptied it."

"What happened then?" Sapphire's eyes were wide with wonder.

Remus smiled slightly, "Well, it turned out to be a combination of Skelegro and Aging Potion, made especially for plants. It rooted and became a huge willow. And well, apparently, it wasn't too happy to see us."

"See you?"

"It attacked. It was a magical plant. It tried to shred us to pieces. That is, until Professor Dumbledore struck a knot in the tree's roots with the empty potion flask. The bottle stayed on the knot, while I was introduced to the famous plant breeder from Spain, Maria Londoño. She showed us how to work the tree. She summoned a long stick for me to poke the knot with. And then, before she left, she asked Professor Dumbledore why on earth he would want such a dangerous thing at Hogwarts. It is a threat. Professor Dumbledore just smiled mysteriously. She started saying that she could sell him dancing daisies but he said no and told her to collect the charge at his Gringotts account. She walked out the gates and apparated. Then Professor Dumbledore started blasting away at the bottom of the tree. The ground shook so hard and surprisingly, the potion bottle stayed on. And a few seconds later, I saw that he had blasted an opening. And under it was a tunnel. He told me it led to—" Remus stopped and looked away.

"Go on, Remus, where does it lead?"

"I'm sorry Saphy, but I've already said too much. Please don't do this Sapphire. I mean, I've only met you on the train today, and I've—" He shook his head.

"Am I not to be trusted?" Sapphire whispered, a bit hurt.

"I'm sorry, Sapphire, I really am."

Sapphire nodded. She lay down and looked at the stars. The sound of the Great Hall was a way off but she could tell that everyone was leaving. She didn't want to move. She just wanted to think about what Remus had said. It was obvious she couldn't get anymore out of him than she already had without hurting him. She was so tired. It was a really long day. Remus got up and extended a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully.

Remus said, "It sounds like people are leaving, we should go in now."

Sapphire nodded and the two of them made their way back.

Remus looked at her, "So why did you decide to come outside?"

"Oh, nothing. Just had a little problem."

"What happened?"

"Remember that fourth year you saved me from on the train today?"

"Oh no… What did he want?"

"What else?"

Remus chuckled, "Looks to me you managed to escape."

"With flying colors Remus. I gave him a punch in the stomach." Remus raised his eyebrows. "But I didn't get in any trouble. I actually got around to making Malfoy, that's his name, feel worse." Sapphire looked proud of herself. "And I got to meet two other interesting people this evening."

"Really, who?"

"Aberforth Dumbledore, he has a real sense of humor. He was the one who spared me of trouble after I had given Malfoy the what-for. He was trying to get me back. Then I pretended to flirt with Amos Diggory, a Hufflepuff fifth year, just to make Malfoy feel bad. And it worked." Sapphire grinned smugly.

"Careful Saphy, you don't want people to think you're some kind of scarlet woman."

Sapphire shot him a look, "Is that what I seem like to you? I won't even say my sister is like that and she is the boy magnet. Anyway, where did you learn that phrase?...Scarlet woman…I've heard it someplace, too..."

"I really don't remember. I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to save yourself from Malfoy. Just look after yourself, okay? I mean, there are people that care about you…a lot."

Sapphire looked at Remus. Remus looked back at Sapphire. Their eyes locked and they could both tell there was something intense happening there. Sapphire saw dark secrets behind Remus's eyes. She knew he was hiding something. Remus saw liquid flowing and a wonderful feeling that felt like flight without a broomstick when he looked into her eyes. Then they both snapped out of it suddenly. Feeling embarrassed, they walked on silently.

They walked in the Great Hall and saw that the Gryffindor prefect was already leading the first years away. Sapphire caught sight of her sister and Lily. The two boys were a few steps ahead, totally absorbed in conversation. There were two other girls that she had never seen before conversing with Amethyst, though. Remus and Sapphire walked fast to catch up with them. Remus ran over to the boys and Sapphire went over to her sister.

The four girls looked up as she appeared. One of the girls had amazingly shocking green eyes. Sapphire noted with interest that it was in the same shape as Lily's eyes but Lily had a lily pad deep green and this girl had an ocean green. She had straight blond hair that was smooth and flowing—almost veela-like. Indeed boys were looking at her. Veelas were generally tall, and she was a little shorter then the others, but her alert eyes made her seem tall and imposing.

The other girl looked just a bit plainer, but had the same alertness, if not more. She had long locks of chocolate brown hair that was a bit on the bushy side which went down to her waist. Her figure would have been not too attractive if it wasn't for her rarely-colored lavender eyes. Sapphire vaguely recalled reading about lavender eyes but she wasn't too sure what it meant. The girl's eyes shone brightly and mysteriously. They were shaped rather shrewdly of wit. She had naturally red lips and rosy cheeks.

The blond girl smiled warmly at Sapphire, and said in a musical voice, "You must be Sapphire. Amy has told us all about you. I'm Oleander Oriole. But call me Olea."

Sapphire returned the smile sweetly. "Call me Saphy, please. So Amy has been talking about me? What did she say?"

Amethyst pouted defensively, "It's not like I was talking bad about you…" Then she giggled. "But where did you disappear to? I thought you just had a minor burn."

"I'll tell all that's happened later, but introductions first."

The mysterious girl spoke in a rich but somewhat cold tone, "I'm Artemis Regan. Pleased to meet you." She pronounced her surname, RAY-gun.

Sapphire tilted her head to the side, still trying to figure out what lavender eyes meant. "Pleased to meet you, too, Artemis." Their eyes locked. Even though the Artemis didn't talk much, Sapphire found that she instantly liked this girl. She saw intelligence and cautiousness. Artemis is a nice name, Sapphire thought.

"But I would rather you call me Luna." Artemis said. Sapphire blinked, had Artemis just read her thoughts? She suddenly recalled reading about lavender eyes in natural legilmens. They can read basic thoughts and burrow into your mind when they want to. If need be, they can perform legilmency so powerful that they see your subconscious mind. All WITHOUT a wand.

"I see you've discovered my secret," and for the first time that night, the girl smiled. She saw someone who she could see as an equal.

55


	2. Snowy and Midnight

Alright, your reviews have been read and considered. Thank you, but now, this is what the author has to say:

I can GUARANTEE you, Sapphire and Amethyst are ANYTHING but perfect little mary sues… this is the first few chapters and I don't want to give anything away, so I can't tell you why they seem like mary sues. I have started this story on another site and I have answered all these little picky questions. My readers told me to post here as well, so here I am.

Also, the last time I updated, I noticed that my section dividers did not show up. They were little asterisks in a row. You may have noticed different parts of the chapter did not connect, or seemed like it was a cliffhanger and the next paragraph extended it. I apologize and I may have to redo it. But for now, the divider is 00000000...

Another thing that you may want to see is the characters. I have a few pictures that I have sketched that may interest you (just because it is not my pen name in the signature does not mean I did not draw it):

The twins: http/i7. Olea, Luna: http/i7. (NOTE: you may not want to see this picture until you have read the whole Ch. 2…it is a spoiler): http/i7. would be happy to answer any questions you may have in your reviews. I will post them in the next chapter. As for now the Gem Morphora…

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Chapter two: Snowy and Midnight

Twin's story:

Sapphire grinned. Artemis smiled back. They could tell that this friendship was one that was going to last.

"You're a psychic?" Amethyst widened her eyes respectfully. She catches on easily enough.

Artemis nodded with a sly smile. Oleander (oh-lee-ON-der) tilted her head to the side and smiled a flowery smile. Sapphire was thrilled to have such a friend.

"Luna, I do have a question, though," Sapphire looked at Artemis, "What kind of thoughts can you read without trying?"

Artemis considered this. "The really basic or obvious ones—like when your facial expressions almost show it. Some muggles have managed this before."

Lily said, "Wait, so you may hear lots of constant voices everyday?"

Artemis nodded, "Well they are sort of different. The thoughts whisper a little in a higher pitch. I'm used to distinguishing it from normal dialogue."

"You never get confused?" Oleander asked.

"Not unless I've had too much fire whiskey." Artemis rolled her eyes.

There was an awkward silence and the five of them noticed that they are lagging behind the Gryffindors. They hustled to catch up.

James, Sirius and Remus broke from conversation and stared at them. The two groups stopped on the stairs. An all around introduction started.

"I'm James, James Potter."

"Sirius Black,"

"Remus Lupin,"

"Oleander Oriole,"

"Artemis Regan,"

They each looked around respectfully. Suddenly, the ground lurched and they realized with only too much regret that they were on revolving stairs.

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"Ouch!" Lily winced as James treaded on her toes ("Oh no! Sorry, Lily!"). "What do we do?" She looked at the spinning world. Just as she stopped talking, the stairs halted at the end of a corridor.

Curiously, they filed out onto the other floor. They walked on for a bit until they saw with wonder a stone statue of a gargoyle. Amethyst reached out to it and rubbed its surface. Lily also looked at it with interest.

Suddenly, it leaped aside and out walked the older Dumbledore, his half-moon spectacles twinkling. "Good evening, Misses Whitewaters, Miss Evans, Miss Oriole, Miss Regan, Mister Potter, Mister Black and Mister Lupin." He said, as if checking off the items on a menu. "Why out so late?"

"Well, you see sir—" Started Amethyst.

"We were a bit slow walking with our fellow Gryffindors—" Lily cut in.

"Just a bit slow—" Said Sapphire.

"And then we got trapped—" Oleander interrupted.

"On a revolving staircase—" James explained.

"And it stopped here—" Remus said.

"And we walked down this corridor, and here we are." Finished Sirius. Artemis just smiled at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore held up a long thin finger. "Corridor? What corridor?"

The group turned to look behind them and saw to their immense surprise, nothing but a blank stretch of brick castle wall.

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"What the—"Exclaimed James. "How'd that happen?"

Sirius struggled to explain, "Sir, we're serious, we DID come down that way!"

Dumbledore smiled and gestured to a small window to the side of the wall they assumed the "corridor" to be. James stood on tiptoes looked outside. Sirius did the same and shock appeared over his good-looking face. One by one they looked out. They all had the look of bewilderment as they left the window. On the other side of the wall was the outside of the castle about 3 stories up.

"But sir, surely you believe us! We don't know what happened!" Lily groped for words. Sapphire and Amethyst looked deep in thought. Dumbledore merely smiled again behind his glasses.

"All of you that came from wizarding families should know magic more than anything else. But you Miss Evans, have probably read Hogwarts, a History, I presume?"

Lily nodded and a few seconds later, comprehension dawned over her face. "Oh!" She said with a grin, "That's it!"

"What's it?" James looked confused.

Lily took no notice, but went on, "The castle itself consists of magic woven into every wall, corridor and staircase. It has a mind of the founders and can work wonders. Only the most commonly used routes refuse to change unless in certain circumstances. But why—"

"Why indeed, Miss Evans." Dumbledore patted his long silver beard. "The staircase probably thought it would help to deliver me the troublemakers before they make any trouble." Complaints were about to break out until Dumbledore said, "Reminds me of me when I was your age." They all grinned. "But still, I must ask that you pay more attention to what is in front of yourselves. Do not bite off more than you can chew." They nodded. "However, tonight is only the first night and the castle was acting on orders of mine. I had told them to fetch Misses Whitewaters. And it had done its job."

Everyone turned to stare at them. Sapphire and Amethyst exchanged glances. This couldn't be about Snape. They'll kill him! Then, it hit them. They were Morphora. That had to be it.

Dumbledore spoke again, "And the rest of you will be led to Gryffindor Tower and given password by your house ghost, Sir Nicholas."

Just as he said so, a pearly white head poked out of the side wall, "You called, sir?"

"Yes, Sir Nicholas, please bring these charming first years to the Gryffindor Tower. They are quite lost, I believe."

"A ghost…" Sirius stared.

James asked, "Are you the famous Nearly Headless Nick?"

The ghost said indignantly, "I would prefer not to be stared at and my name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. I despise it when people call me, Nearly Headless Nick. Please do not call me that."

"I think it is a rather fearsome name," Lily said encouragingly.

"Maybe, but we should get moving before Peeves gets here." Sir Nicholas did not take to the encouragement.

"Who's Peeves?" Oleander asked.

Sirius answered, "I heard he is the Hogwarts poltergeist. A really troublesome clown like James and I."

At that note, Peeves, the Poltergeist, came swooping in, dungbombs in his transparent hands. Cackling madly, he cranked his hands back to throw ("Oh dear," said Sir Nicholas). Dumbledore froze him with a quick spell but the dungbombs were already in midair. They came crashing towards the group. They all scattered to run for cover. Dumbledore flicked his wand at the dungbombs and they flew back to Peeves's outstretched hands. They collided and stink flooded the hallway. Dumbledore unfroze Peeves, and he yelped and dashed away, the horrible smell chasing him.

Putting away his wand, Dumbledore chuckled softly, "Peeves is still used to the former Headmaster, Dippet old man. He used to perform horrible pranks around the school. But now, I'm afraid Peeves would just have to see everything my way." He winked at the group then ushered James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Oleander, Artemis and Sir Nicholas overhead away. They shot backward glances at the twins and their whispers died away around the corner.

Sapphire and Amethyst looked up at Dumbledore, and he smiled down his crooked nose at them. "Follow me inside," He turned to the gargoyle, "Chocolate Frog…" The gargoyle leapt aside, and they were able to step on the moving spiral staircase. At the top of the stairs, there was a door with an iron knob. Dumbledore turned the knob and pushed open the door. He held it open for them, "Welcome to my office, Sapphire and Amethyst."

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Inside was a dome-shaped high-ceilinged room. There was a big oak desk by the fireplace and a small spindly-legged table holding interesting-looking silver instruments. Some hummed and others whirred. The floor had soft scarlet carpet on it. The walls had portraits of what the twins assumed to be the past headmasters and headmistresses. Near the back, behind the desk, there stood several tall bookcases. Each held lots of interestingly covered books. On the other side of the desk, there was a high perch. On it was a handsome fire-red phoenix. It was large in size and its tail feathers reached a third of the way down the perch. The phoenix blinked at the three and cooed softly a welcome.

Dumbledore took a seat at his desk and conjured up two comfy-looking armchairs. "Sit," He gestured. Obediently, they sat. Amethyst could not take her eyes off that beautiful phoenix, since it was ruby colored and reminded her of a wild fire. Then, Dumbledore cleared his throat. Amethyst reluctantly looked back at the old man. Sapphire was already curled up on the chair, looking comfortable but alert. She pushed her side bangs out of her eyes and behind her ears. Amethyst rested her chin on her hands and stared lazily at the old man.

Dumbledore smiled at their comfort, "Well, I sent for you, because of a very important cause. I hope you can understand that because you are Morphora, you will not be getting the same kind of schedules as your friends." Sapphire moved her foot onto her chair. Amethyst shifted her head a little. Dumbledore continued, "You are going to have normal classes with your friends, but have extra classes with Aberforth and I. You see, that was the main reason I invited him to come stay at Hogwarts for some time."

Sapphire put her feet on the ground and sat up straight, her expression unreadable. Amethyst just shifted her head again. Dumbledore looked at his phoenix, "But of course, you wouldn't miss anything. Fawkes, please fetch two time-turners from the Room of Requirement." In a flash of red, Fawkes the phoenix was gone.

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In another flash, the phoenix appeared again, two golden necklaces hung from his beak. Each one had a miniature hourglass as a pendant. Fawkes dropped one on Sapphire's lap, the other on Amethyst's. They looked at the time-turners in their golden glow, and did not hesitate to put the time-turners around their necks. The sand in them immediately turned into grinded sapphire crystals for Sapphire, and amethyst powder for Amethyst. A magical aura emerged from them and blended with the air. It was like having perfume hang around your neck.

Dumbledore smiled, "I enchanted them to fit their sand to be crystals—very useful, isn't it?" The twins nodded, still entranced by the magical atmosphere. Dumbledore said in a more serious tone now, "But we may never have too many precautions. Your gemstones aid you in magical element control, am I right?" They nodded. "And may I ask what are your wands made of?"

Sapphire took out hers, "They are made from very rare materials. Mine is thirteen and a half inches; made from riverside willow; flexibility is swishy; and the core is sapphire crystal cultivated from the water or suspended in the air, exactly seven feet away from the willow. It is a rare thing but our mother arranged it well a few weeks after our birth."

Amethyst added, "Mother was careful about everything. My wand is also thirteen and a half inches; wood from volcano-side ash tree; flexibility is swift; and core is amethyst crystal from the lava side, or buried into the earth—also exactly seven feet away from the ash tree. Like Saphy said, our mother took care of this at our Naming Ceremony. When we were named as Sapphire and Amethyst, she made sure to locate the areas specifically needed for our wand ingredients and stabilized a sapphire in the lake seven feet away from the appointed willow, and for me—an amethyst steadied in the rock above the lava, seven feet from the assigned ash."

Sapphire spoke again, "When we had our wands made, Mother invited Mr. Ollivanders to personally come to our home. He transfigured the matured crystals we obtained just the previous day, into ward cores—just the right length and width. He fitted it into the acquired wood and when we touched it, it felt wonderful. He told me that with this wand, I will not only achieve perfect all-around wand work, but water and air were mine to command as well. I remember as if it was yesterday, though it was five years ago, when I was five."

Amethyst nodded, recalling, "Yes, we started our training then, when we were five, with our mother. Mr. Ollivanders told me that I could also do excellent magic with this wand—and also rule the fire and earth elements. Those are primary powers. That was a happy day. Saphy and I ran about the mansion, experimenting. We didn't get hurt at all. On the contrary, we felt as if we knew what we were doing. It was only after we had started our training did I realize that we had much more to learn. But our other powers, known as Morphora talents, are very much different. Those, we have to LEARN to control."

Sapphire whispered softly, "And our Morphora talents are only just surfacing…"

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Sapphire looked up at Dumbledore, "Just last week, I conjured sunshine out of storm clouds, and Amy became invisible. But those are secondary powers. My Morphora talents are the Inner Eye and telepathy. Amy's are persuasion and lie detection. We cannot use these powers to the full extent and we never will. But we can bend and twist them a little with training…in the future."

Dumbledore stroked his long beard and looked thoughtful. "While we are on the subject of your powers, it has come to my knowledge that Morphora are also known for being gifted metamorphmagus that can change into magical creatures as well. May I see?" He grinned a little.

Sapphire closed her eyes and concentrated. She spun in a circle where she stood. Her image misted and there stood Albus Dumbledore. The real Dumbledore chuckled slowly. "Impressive, very impressive…" Sapphire gave a small courtesy. "But you morph rather different than other metamorphmagus," Dumbledore noticed.

"Well, that's because we aren't metamorphmagus." Amethyst said, "Watch me transform into a magical creature." She looked around for an idea. Her eyes rested on Fawkes. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and spun around. A second later, a lavender phoenix perched there, making soft noises. Fawkes cooed to Amethyst. Amethyst the phoenix jerked her head up and down. Sapphire thought something was wrong until she realized something—that must be what phoenixes look like giggling!

"Amy," 'Dumbledore' or Sapphire said, exasperated. "If you're going to be a phoenix, do act like one. I don't reckon phoenixes giggle." The lavender phoenix rolled her eyes. "Nor do they roll their eyes." Sapphire laughed affectionately. Amethyst stretched her neck long and stuck out a phoenix tongue. Sapphire smiled, "Well then, I will just have to show you how a phoenix acts." Saying so, she spun around. Her shape misted and morphed into a pale blue phoenix. Even though they are the same creature and twins, somehow, Sapphire looked different.

The pale blue phoenix had a smaller body than the lavender one. But she had a longer neck and tail. Her feathers were also lengthy. There was also a slight difference in their tails. Amethyst had a swishy and full tail, while Sapphire had waved slender tail feathers. The two looked each other up and down and smiled. You can always tell that a phoenix was smiling, because its whole face lights up and warmth shows through. Their time-turners were there on their necks, looking as magical as ever. Fawkes was looking at them. Then he rustled his feathers, trying to look his best. Amethyst spread her wings and flew in a circle and changed back into Amethyst. She doubled up laughing. Sapphire changed back, too. She giggled a little back went over to the perch to give Fawkes a pat. For a minute, Fawkes looked confused, but then being such an intelligent creature, he understood. Sapphire went to sit again. Fawkes flew over to Amethyst's armchair and perched there. Amethyst smiled up at him.

Dumbledore patted his beard thoughtfully, "Sapphire, do you realize what form of a phoenix you took? It was very interesting what you became—seeing as you are of water element and a phoenix is of fire. I believe you have become a water phoenix. Rare creatures they are. Known as ice queens, they rule the land."

Sapphire nodded, "That would be the instance if Amy tried to become a mermaid or grindylow or just a water creature—it's a clash of elements. I think, sometime ago, my mother mentioned that only Morphora are able to blend so well in an element other than their own—it's a rare gift."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes, Emerald has a broad knowledge of Morphora. She was trained by the best of the best… It's no wonder."

Amethyst turned her head from Fawkes, "You mean…"

Sapphire glanced at her sister, "Yes, I think he means Grandmother Moonstone."

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"Yes, Moonstone was three years below me, when I was at Hogwarts." Dumbledore took of his half-moon spectacles, examined them, and put them back on. "Good times. She was fun-loving, but always so mysterious. It was only later that I had found out why…"

Sapphire asked, "Is that why you know so much about Morphora sir?"

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes suddenly showing a tear, "I just wished she was here now. Wouldn't she have loved to see how you have grown…"

Amethyst shook her head, "Professor Dumbledore, you—you still remember her, don't you?"

"I remember her well. She died when you two were only four, but for me, it was just six years ago."

Sapphire bowed her head, "Do you know how she died? Mother never told us."

Dumbledore conjured a handkerchief and blew. "Well, if you mother disagrees with informing you, I am certainly not going to contradict her. Emerald is just as clever as her mother." Amethyst opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again. Dumbledore put away the handkerchief, "Would you ladies be kind enough as to perform a Cheering Charm on me? I could certainly use one."

Sapphire took out her wand, "My pleasure, sir." And she waved her wand.

Dumbledore looked much happier after the charm. He smiled down his crooked nose at them. "Well, as I know, your birthdays are coming up. You are about to turn eleven. And, as you may know, you Morphora can be allowed in earlier than your year."

The twins nodded. Their birthday was on October 26th, right near Halloween.

Dumbledore continued, "And I have early birthday presents to give you."

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The twins blinked and stuttered thanks. They have never been given a present this early. Smiling, Dumbledore went to the bookshelves and reached behind it. He pulled out a cloth-covered circular bird cage. He came by to the desk. Placing the cage carefully down, he took a seat. They could hear the soft breaths of whatever creature it was.

"Happy birthday, Sapphire…" Dumbledore said, lifting the cloth cover. Inside was a beautiful snow white owl. She had golden yellow eyes and a sharp black beak.

"She…she's beautiful," Sapphire breathed.

Dumbledore opened the cage door. "She is of snow and air, like you." The owl hopped out elegantly. Dumbledore stroked her feathers. "She has just reached maturity, but she is very intelligent." The owl hooted at Sapphire. Sapphire reached out her hand and sprinkled some snowflakes on the owl's head. She could do magic just like that—easily. The owl hooted at the snow, then flapped her wings to become airborne and landed on Sapphire's shoulder. Amethyst reached out a hand to her. At first the owl flinched—fire elements were on her—but her persuasion skills were active enough to convince the owl to calm herself.

"Amethyst," Dumbledore said, "I have a present for you, too." He turned and called to the wall—the one behind the bookshelf that hid the owl, "Come on out, little creature, Amethyst, your new owner, is here to meet you."

Out of the corner emerged a kitten—black as midnight—iridescent yellow eyes glowing. She may be young, but she look to be healthy and strong, not to mention clever. She took a leap onto the table and another into Amethyst's lap. She settled down and looked perfectly content, purring.

Amethyst gasped, "Why, aren't you a cute little thing?" The kitten meowed. Amethyst smiled.

Dumbledore smiled again, "I'm glad you like her. She is so black that she can blend in with shadows—invisibility, like you. She can also help avoid a lot of danger—almost, I think, like lie-detection, except well, she is suspicious." He put his hands together.

"Thank you, professor." Sapphire and Amethyst said in unison.

"You're very welcome." Dumbledore looked at the kitten, "Her blackness contrast the owl's whiteness. Just like your personalities, but also, they are here for the same purpose and—almost the same—masters." He stood up, "There is only one thing left to do now—name them."

Sapphire immediately said, "Snowy…"

Amethyst followed suit, "Midnight…"

The animals echoed agreement by hooting contentedly and purring thanks.

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"Ahh, it's settled then," Dumbledore picked up the cage from his desk, "Snowy and Midnight. Lovely…" He walked around his desk and put the bird cage at Sapphire's feet. Then he went to the bookshelf and from the highest shelf, he took down a box. He sat down at his desk again. "And here is the last item I am giving you tonight." Saying so, he opened the box.

Lying inside, were the most beautiful crystals they had ever seen. One glowed sky blue, and the other, lavender. Dumbledore chuckled softly, "These beauties are cut to perfection. And unbreakable Imperturable Charms are put on it. They are indestructible like you. I had these made by the goblins." He held out the box to them. Sapphire and Amethyst could not believe this. He was giving them so much! They took the gems dumbly. Dumbledore said, "Now, as I can see, you have personalized my school robes. Would you like to make a strap on here?"

The twins nodded. They closed their eyes and suddenly, out of the gems, sprouted necklaces. The sapphire grew black unicorn-silk ribbon and the amethyst stretched out a thin strip of black dragon skin leather. Amethyst let hers grow just a bit longer. Dumbledore nodded his head. The twins looked at each other and then at Dumbledore. They fastened the crystals on shyly. They had to thank Dumbledore.

Sapphire spoke first, "Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore! I'm so grateful! I don't know how I will ever repay you! Oh thank you!"

Amethyst nodded her head vigorously, "Yes, professor, we don't know that there are people who actually care about us so much in the school! Thank you!" Dumbledore just laughed gently. Sapphire looked at Amethyst. And both of them, in one movement, gave Dumbledore a big hug. He smiled, looking surprised, but the twinkle in his eyes never left.

He looked at them, "Well, it's getting late, do you want to go back to Gryffindor tower now? Even Snowy and Midnight look tired." The twins turned to look. Snowy was perched on Sapphire's chair back and was nodding off. Midnight was in Amethyst's seat, curled up in a ball, eyelids drooping.

Sapphire and Amethyst giggled at their sleepiness. Sapphire said, "We'd better go then. Thank you again, Professor Dumbledore." She turned to the door, but then turned back quickly, "How are we getting back?"

Dumbledore laughed, "I'm taking you." And he turned the doorknob and held it open for them. They filed out and stepped on the spiral staircase. Snowy and Midnight remained in his office. The stairs spun to the bottom and they walked out. The castle wall was no longer there, outside Dumbledore's office, rather it was the usual way that Dumbledore knew so well. He walked ahead of the girls, up a few flight of stairs and across some corridors. Finally, they reached a portrait of a fat lady. She looked curiously down at them. Dumbledore said, "The password is dragonsbane. Hurry along now. I bet your friends are waiting for you."

Sapphire said, "Thank you again, professor. Good night."

Dumbledore said before turning away, "Good night to you, too, Misses Whitewaters."

The twins turned back to the portrait, "Dragonsbane." The fat lady yawned and swung forward to let them in.

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Dumbledore was right, like he always is. Their friends were waiting by the fireplace armchairs when they went in. The Common Room was a warmly lit room with some armchairs and a few tables. It was a perfect working, playing, studying, or even resting environment.

When the twins entered the Common Room, they heard exasperated voices, "You're finally back!" Smiling, they went to sit down. Sapphire took the open armchair by Oleander and Amethyst sat on her armrest. Artemis and Lily leaned over to welcome them. James, Sirius and Remus were there, too. But there was also someone else there.

The short boy that "prayed" on the Sorting Hat's Stool was on the other side of the room, reading a book. As the twins watched, he yawned widely, revealing rat-like teeth. He scratched his mousy brown hair and rubbed his eyes. Sirius half-glanced at him before saying, "So how was it?"

Sapphire and Amethyst looked at each other, forgetting all about the other boy. They decided that it was not yet safe to tell the group of their true identity. Amethyst answered, "Dumbledore wanted to see us about our schedule. We are taking more classes this year."

Artemis tilted her head to the side, "Really, how?"

Sapphire said, "Well, we will use time-turners, Luna."

Lily exclaimed, "Oh those things! I've read about them in the magical artifacts book. It is third year level but I wanted to challenge myself." She blushed a little.

James lay back in his chair, "You're smart. But for the rest of us, we wait until the year starts to begin our FIRST book." He flashed a charming smile at Lily, who did not take it.

"But that's still interesting," Oleander said. "Taking more courses in the first year." They were all engaged in speaking their opinions, when suddenly, Midnight hopped onto Amethyst's lap. And Snowy flew over, a bit slower due to the birdcage that was crutched in her claws. She dropped the cage gently at Sapphire's feet, dropped a piece of rolled up parchment on Sapphire's lap and landed on her shoulder. Oleander gasped, "They are so cute! I didn't know you had pets! Wow, a black cat and a snowy owl!"

Artemis spoke, "Isn't the owl supposed to be in the owlery?"

Amethyst scanned the letter, "Not according to this letter, it isn't." Saying so, she read the letter aloud to the group.

_Dear Misses Whitewaters,_

_I hope you are enjoying your new pets. I have transported them over by floo powder. And since you are reading this, I know that they have arrived safely. This was Snowy's first letter, and I guess she has done a good job, then._

_Miss Amethyst, you are able to keep Midnight in your dorm as you may know already. But Miss Sapphire, your owl by school rules, should be kept in the owlery. However, I know you can't bear to part with Snowy so I shall let you keep her in your dorm. Have a fun time with her!_

_And as for the rest of your friends, learn well, and stay of trouble!_

_Best wishes,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Lily asked, "So I'm assuming Snowy and Midnight are the names of your pets?"

The twins nodded. Sapphire said, "My owl is Snowy and her kitten is Midnight."

Remus chuckled, "Just like they appear… But when did you get them?"

"Yeah, they weren't with you, when we saw you at the boats." James said, recalling the events just a few hours ago.

Amethyst cut in, "Well, we were about to tell you that Dumbledore gave them to us as early birthday present, but then they arrived and caused all this commotion." Snowy shot her a look and Midnight glared at her. "Well, unintentionally, of course. And we don't mind at all."

"When is your birthday?" Sirius asked.

Amethyst replied, "October 26th. We are still ten." Sapphire frowned at her, but Amethyst gave her a they-will-know-soon-enough-anyway-look. Sapphire still looked worried.

The others, not noticing Sapphire's behavior, asked, "You're ten? That's impossible! You can't enter Hogwarts at ten!"

Amethyst wanted to calm all of them down, including Sapphire, said, in her most persuasive tone, "Well, our mother wanted us to start learning early. She has connections…" Amethyst shrugged as if this was no big deal. "Is there a problem?" She asked testily. The others all shook their heads no.

Sapphire sighed silently. This was DEFINITELY going to be an interesting year.

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"But I don't get it. Why did he give you presents?" Lily asked, "Is he allowed to do that?"

Amethyst stammered, "Like I said—he is our mother's good friend and he felt bad not going to our, um, last birthday celebration…" Sapphire shook her head sadly. This was not going to work.

James yawned widely, "I guess it's time to go to bed. Sirius, Remus, you coming?"

Sirius stood up, "Yup, unpacking will have to wait until tomorrow morning then…"

Remus thought aloud, "I thought it was four to a dorm, isn't it?"

James stood up and stretched, "Really? Well um… it wouldn't that much a difference, would it?" Sirius shook his head and smothered a yawn. It did not work.

At that comment, the mousy-haired boy put away his book and timidly walked over. He looked down at his feet and murmured, "Hi, I'm Peter Pettigrew. May I share a dorm with you please?" He looked up quickly at them.

Sirius looked to be dozing off, but suddenly jerked awake. "Huh? What? Share a dorm?" His eyes landed on Peter, and he seemed to be sizing him up and down. Peter looked down hurriedly again. Sirius looked at James, "Why not, Pepper…You can share a dorm with us."

Peter corrected Sirius shyly, "It's Peter."

"Sure, whatever Pepper."

Peter sighed.

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Amethyst turned back to the girls, "So shall we all share a dorm then?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah. I'm pretty sure all the other dorms are taken anyway." Oleander and Artemis both looked too tired to talk. Sapphire just started for the staircase, with birdcage in hand and Snowy on her shoulder. Amethyst gently scooped up Midnight and carried her after Sapphire. The group made their way up and reached a landing with an empty dormitory.

Inside were five four-poster beds. Sapphire chose the one nearest to the window and placed the cage on the bedside table. She saw to no surprise that there was a stash of owl food and treats in her drawer. It was Dumbledore's work no doubt. Amethyst chose the bed on the other side of Sapphire. She lay Midnight on her pillow and rummaged in her trunk for her red stockings to wrap around Midnight.

The other girls chose the beds closer to the door. They found their trunks under their beds and started taking out their pajamas. Oleander took out a pillow that said, "Good night" when slept on. She swapped it for the Hogwarts one. Artemis took out an assortment of spices and put them in her drawer. Lily placed a few books on her nightstand and yawned.

Snowy flew into her cage, where Sapphire had materialized some water when no one was looking and poured in some owl food. Snowy shuffled her feathers and closed her golden eyes. Midnight was already fast asleep with her red stockings, comfortably wrapped around her body.

The girls got into their beds and pulled the curtains around. Oleander's pillow said, Good night…" The rest of them replied with yawns.

The twins had a long day and were exhausted. They felt so contented in their beds, and could not wait for the next day to come.

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Amethyst's Story:

The next morning, Amethyst woke up with a smile on her face. She stretched a little and turned around to look at Midnight in her red stockings. Midnight wasn't next to her anymore. Amethyst jumped up in alarm. She ripped open her curtains.

But she need not worry. On the floor was Midnight, playing with her wooly stockings and having a lot of fun. The minute she saw Amethyst, though, she abandoned her stockings and leapt onto Amethyst's open lap, purring. Amethyst was going for a hard lecture, but her expression softened immediately, "Just don't worry me next time, okay?" Midnight nudged Amethyst softly in the ribs, _okay_.

Amethyst lay back down in her bed, curtains ajar. Midnight settled down on the pillow next to Amethyst, her expression alert. Amethyst petted her kitten lovingly, and thought about all that's happened yesterday. A lot has happened.

Suddenly a draft of cold wind blew in. Amethyst shuddered. She poked her head outside. Sapphire had left the window open. Snowy's cage was empty. Amethyst guessed that Sapphire had probably let her owl out for a night. Amethyst didn't want to shut Snowy out so she conjured some heat from her finger and spread it on her bed. She lay down and sighed contentedly.

"You know, it's not a good idea to do magic so openly in front of others."

Amethyst jumped out of her skin.

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Twin's Story:

She looked around and saw that Sapphire was opening her curtains. Amethyst breathed a sigh of relief. Sapphire crossed her legs and propped her head up on elbows, looking at Amethyst, "I saw that, Amy. You should be more careful."

"I know, I KNOW." Amethyst rolled her eyes, and said softly again, "I know… But—But Saphy, can't we just tell our friends? I mean, we wouldn't be in that much of a danger with Lily, Olea, and Luna, can we? I hate to keep things from them. I know it has just been one day, but I really feel like I know and can trust them!" Amethyst didn't like this. She already loves the other three to death. This was NOT fair. All she wants to do now is just be worry-free at school, but instead, she is burdened down with secrets and suspicion. She wanted to have a fun time at Hogwarts, but she was not getting any.

Sapphire shook her head sadly. She did not like to keep secrets anymore than her sister. "Amy, I'm sorry. I really want to tell them, too. I—I just don't know if…if…I just don't know Amy… But I know Jade hasn't told anyone in all her six years here. Surely we can, too?" Then she realized that Jade had indeed kept her secret for six years. That means they could do so, too, if they had tried. But then again, Sapphire didn't know if Jade had friends as close as Lily, Oleander and Artemis. Sapphire wondered how long they would have to keep their Morphora nature a secret.

"Six years is a long time, Saphy."

"I know, Amy. But forever is longer. Much longer." Sapphire said walking over to give Amethyst a hug.

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Amethyst pulled away from the hug feeling much better, but still did not understand. Midnight stalked up to Sapphire and settled on her lap, watching her with glowering eyes.

Amethyst winked, "Dumbledore DID say that she is very suspicious…"

Suddenly, they were hit by another icy wind. Snowy landed on her cage—which she used as a perch—with a struggling live frog in her beak.

Sapphire stood up immediately, "Oh no! Don't bring live creatures here!" Midnight jumped onto Amethyst, hissing. Sapphire watched as the frog almost leapt away. Snowy caught it by the foot and was giving it a good shake. The frog hung limp, apparently dazed. Snowy looked smug, as if saying, _see, I can take care of these creatures if I bring them here._

Sapphire took out her wand and stunned the frog, just in case. Snowy ate it slowly with her back turned, instead of gobbling it up in front of them.

Amethyst laughed, "She has manners! Wow… Ouch!" Midnight had swiped at her finger. Along with suspicion, she has gotten jealousy. "Midnight!" The kitten shot her a pleased look that said, "You need to be disciplined." Amethyst said, "You want me to ignore you?"

Sapphire laughed and patted Midnight on the head, "No, she just wants attention and compliments." She stooped down and picked Midnight up, "But you do have to forget jealousy…because Snowy IS well-mannered. You are witty, though. So you two are even. Okay?" Midnight gave a half-hearted meow. Snowy held her head high and looked at Midnight down her beak with narrow eyes.

Amethyst laughed, "That's just great. Our pets hate each other."

"Oh, we'll just teach them not to." Sapphire said, taking out her robes to get dressed.

Amethyst looked at Midnight thoughtfully. Then she picked Midnight up and gave her a peck on the nose. "You don't have to be jealous at all, Midnight." Then she set Midnight down and took out her robes as well.

Suddenly, Oleander's pillow said, "Good morning." Oleander poked her head out of her curtains sleepily, "Is it time to get up yet?"

"Yes Olea," Amethyst grinned. Oleander responded by falling out of her bed and continued sleeping on the floor. Sapphire smiled at her lazy friend.

Artemis drew open her curtains with a smile. "Good morning, Saphy, Amy and sleeping Olea, Lily." She bent to take out her trunk.

"Who said I'm asleep?" Lily pulled her curtains open with a wide smile. "Olea, wake up,"

Oleander pulled her sheet down from her bed and over her head. A muffled "I don't want to" was heard. Midnight bounded onto her and licked her ear, which was the only part that was showing. Oleander giggled and sat up. Her blond hair was sort of messy, but she shook it out. She patted Midnight on the head, "Thank you Mimi, May I call you that?" Midnight licked her hand in agreement. Oleander pulled out her trunk and burrowed in for her robes. Midnight returned to Amethyst's bedside.

Amethyst said, "I wonder if I'm allowed to bring her to my classes and everything."

Sapphire furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't know. Do you want to ask Dumbledore?"

Amethyst nodded, "Sure." The both of them smoothed out their robes. Amethyst said to the group. "There is still time to spare before breakfast. We'll meet you up in the Common Room, okay?" Lily waved a bye. Oleander yawned an "okay". Artemis smiled at them. Snowy flapped her wings twice, maintaining her "good manners". Midnight leapt onto Amethyst's open arms.

Sapphire smiled at the kitten, "Do you want to go, too?" Midnight meowed. "Okay, Midnight. This is about you after all." But as they went down the stairs and out the portrait door, Sapphire had other things on her mind to ask Dumbledore.

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As they retraced the way that they came from last night, Amethyst was satisfied to "talk" with Midnight. Sapphire thought of the way she should present her question to Dumbledore.

Whey they reached the stone gargoyle Sapphire had it worded out, "Chocolate frog." The gargoyle leapt aside, allowing them onto the spiral staircase. The twins stepped in and the revolving stairs took them up. Amethyst was just raising her hand to knock when the twins froze. There was whispered conversation inside. The twins distinguished the obvious Dumbledore voice. It was calm and alert—strange combination. Then, there was a younger voice, which Sapphire guessed to be Aberforth. But there appeared to be another voice yet, a squeaky, excited voice.

Sapphire grabbed Amethyst's arm, "Can you hear what they are saying?"

Amethyst shook her head, "No, they are too soft. Do you reckon we ought to eavesdrop?"

"No, not on Dumbledore anyway. I trust him." Sapphire released Amethyst's arm. They held their breath as Amethyst knocked twice. The voices silenced immediately. There came the footsteps of someone striding over.

The next second the door opened and Aberforth Dumbledore smiled a cheerful smile at them. "The Whitewaters! How are you doing today?" He held the door open for them. Sapphire noticed with interest that he called them, "the Whitewaters."

"We're doing fine, Sir. Why do you refer to us as 'the Whitewaters'?" Sapphire asked.

Aberforth looked at her, "Huh? Oh that." He looked at his older brother. "Well, I hate formality to be honest. Albus forced me to do so at least on the first day of school and I did. So now, you're the Whitewaters!" He said with a grin. Then he turned to Amethyst, "I believe we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Aberforth Dumbledore." He held out his hand.

Amethyst shook it, "I'm Amethyst."

Aberforth looked at the twins closely. "And you are Sapphire?" He said, turning to Sapphire.

She nodded, "We met last night." Amethyst shot Sapphire a questioning glance. Sapphire looked pointedly at the rest of the people present.

Then out of the corner of the room, stepped out a short wizard with a goblin-like appearance. He wore a stout hat which he tipped off to them, "I'm Filius Flitwick! Head of the Ravenclaw house. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He hopped about excitedly. The twins nodded their greetings, too.

Headmaster Dumbledore stepped forward, "We were just discussing your class schedules. And the three of us are going to be your extra teachers—for your Morphora needs." He smiled. Professor Flitwick bounced even more happily.

The twins exchanged looks. Sapphire said, "So what are you teaching us?"

Aberfoth said, "I'm teaching you your animagi, metamorphmagus transfigurations."

Flitwick said, "I'm taking care of your wand-less and nonverbal spells."

The headmaster nodded, "And I'm helping you keep your element powers in check."

The twins thought about this. It was a further step to ensure their safety no doubt but… Sapphire wrapped her fingers around her time-turner on her neck, "And we are having lessons, when?"

Dumbledore replied, "We are actually starting next week, because of the need to make preparations of a classroom and materials. But during your normal Transfigurations, Aberforth is teaching you. Your usual charms are Professor Flitwick's classes. And I'm going to take your Wednesday nights."

Amethyst said, "Are you going to use time-turners?"

Flitwick answered in a squeaky voice, "We might have to."

The twins looked at each other, and suddenly remembered what they are here for. Amethyst asked, "Speaking of classes, am I allowed to bring Midnight with me to class everyday?"

The older Dumbledore said, "That may be a problem for the professors to teach." Seeing Aberforth and Flitwick's uncomprehending faces, he added, "Midnight is her charming kitten right here. And Amethyst wants to know if she can bring her kitten to class."

Flitwick bounced a bit more, "I don't see a problem for her in my class, but Slughorn, now, I'm not so sure…"

Aberforth sniggered, "You're still prejudiced against Slytherin then, Filius?"

"Nonsense!" Flitwick squealed, almost toppling over in anger, "He is always going on about his good-for-nothing Slug Club. Honestly, I ask you—"

Dumbledore cut him off, "Now Filius, it would not do good to criticize your colleague in front of students."

Flitwick looked at the twins; then nodded earnestly.

Dumbledore clapped his hands together, "Now off you go… Breakfast is in fifteen minutes."

"Wait!" Sapphire blurted out. "Wait, Professor Dumbledore! There is something else that I wanted to ask you about." Amethyst looked at her surprised.

"Continue," Dumbledore said.

"Well, there is this girl. Her name is Artemis Regan. She is psychic. How are we to keep ourselves from showing our Morphora secret to her?"

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Dumbledore looked startled at first. Then he leaned close to the twins and asked slowly, "Can this be the same Artemis Regan that shares a dorm with you?"

Amethyst nodded, seeing her sister's point, "Sir, is she a real threat to us?"

Dumbledore stroked his long beard in thought, "I don't know. I honestly don't know what to believe now. There is a steady rise in dark magic, though. And…the best thing to do now might just be—Occlumency…"

"Oh! To guard the mind against outside intrusion! Yes!" Sapphire exclaimed, excited. Amethyst knew it, too. Their mother mastered this technique as well as Legilimency.

"Exactly Sapphire," Aberforth nodded. "That is what you will need. We know of this girl, but we prayed that you won't know each other… Do you know what kind of thoughts she can read without trying?"

Amethyst answered, "She can read basic expression thoughts...the facial kind, that is."

Aberforth smiled, "So if you didn't show particular Morphora on your face it wouldn't matter. How would you express that?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "Suppose she tried to look in their heads? They won't even suspect it. All she had to do is to maintain eye contact. Not hard, especially if the twins don't know this." He turned to the twins again, "I will give you Occlumency lessons as well on Wednesday nights." He turned to sit back down, his expression weary, "Midnight may only go to Charms class with you, but she can patrol the corridors with Mrs. Norris. You may go. Aberforth will walk you out." Flitwick, too, looked deep in thought. Before the door closed, behind them, the twins saw Flitwick standing on tiptoes to whisper to the seated Dumbledore.

They descended the stairs in silence. Only Midnight was hissing at some flies in midair. At the gargoyle, the girls stepped out. Sapphire asked, "Sir, this isn't too big a problem, is it?"

Aberforth sighed and looked at her, "No Sapphire, my brother is a real man. I have yet seen something he has not overcome… Goodbye Whitewaters." Without waiting for their reply, he sighed again and stepped on the stairs and the gargoyle blocked off the opening.

Sapphire and Amethyst looked at each other and realized that they had taken too long. They raced as fast as they can to Gryffindor Tower.

At the fat lady's portrait they panted out, "Dragonsbane". The fat lady swung aside. Amethyst almost dropped Midnight in her anxiety to get in. Midnight hissed and jumped off her. She shot into Oleander's lap, glaring at Amethyst. Oleander giggled. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the armchair that Lily is in. Artemis sat on another armchair, playing with her spices. Amethyst didn't find her intimidating at all.

Oleander stroked Midnight, "Hey, Mimi, did you have a fun time with Amethyst?" Midnight looked back at Amethyst. Amethyst put on an apologetic face. Midnight made no immediate reaction.

Amethyst flopped down next to Oleander, "We're not late, are we? We talked about classes with Dumbledore again."

Before the others could reply to that, Sapphire said, "Are you guys hungry? Let's head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I'm sure Midnight can come. It's not a class."

Amethyst grumbled something about just sitting down. Artemis asked, "So Dumbledore said no, Saphy?"

Sapphire shook her head, "Only Charms."

They walked out of the portrait hole as the boys came sneaking up behind them…

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"Boo!" Sirius jumped out at them. Normally, the girls would not have as much flinched, but Sirius caught them so off guard that they screamed at the top of their lungs.

Midnight pounced at Sirius in a frenzy of black. Sirius fell back, still laughing at the girls. He said, "I'm not afraid of you kitty. In fact, I feel so strong against your tiny force." He laughed as he saw James. Midnight stalked away, tail high in the air.

Lily was shaking her head at Sirius when James suddenly appeared at her shoulder. "Hey Evans! Want to go to breakfast together?"

Lily stepped out of reach, "In your dreams, Potter". She tossed her hair over her shoulder and motioned for the girls to follow her. Amethyst shot Sirius an awkward backwards glance.

Then Remus and the boy Peter came around the corner, too. They smiled slyly at James and Sirius. Peter whispered something to James and Sirius. Sirius laughed, "Good job Pepper! Filch won't know what is coming. It's just his chance that his first year here, he encounters us!"

James smiled back, "Filch… What is he to us troublemakers?"

Sirius replied, "Nothing."

Remus said, "It's all set. When should we start it?"

At that second, Lily rushed back to them, having overheard. The others were following closely behind. Lily pointed a finger at the boys, "What sort of trouble are you planning?"

Sirius smirked, "None of your business." Remus frowned at that. And Peter snickered.

James waggled a finger at Sirius, "Now Sirius. That is no way to treat a lady." He turned to Lily, "Sorry, confidential information, but you will find out soon enough."

Lily turned on her heel, muttering under her breath, "And the amazing Potter shows us how _exactly_ to treat a lady… how unimpressive."

Sapphire smiled sadly at the boys. She knew they were just having their fun. Amethyst again, shot Sirius a backwards glance. It was almost as if she was trying to figure out something. The girls headed for the stairs.

The way to the Great Hall was just down a couple of stairs and corridors. When they arrived, they saw the same tables that they had last night. There were once again bundles of food on the tables and the girls jumped right in, being so hungry.

Then, the Heads of Houses passed out schedules. Professor Averett was Head of Gryffindor House. He looked very old and worn, but still walked with a springy step. He handed the girls schedules. They had Transfigurations first.

Midnight was licking cream off of a plate when a herd of owls swooped in, landing in front of students. Midnight hissed and jumped in Amethyst's lap. A great burrowing owl with big light green eyes landed in front of the twins—a letter in its beak. Sapphire, recognizing her mother's owl and seal on the parchment, grabbed for the letter. She had just opened the seal when she saw Midnight jumping off Amethyst's lap and heading off.

She shouted after Midnight, "Midnight! Midnight!" Sapphire hastily wrapped a small bread roll in a napkin. Midnight came back to her. "Midnight, will you drop this off in our dorm please? It's for Sno—" Then she paused. Midnight did not like Snowy. "I'm saving it for later; will you drop it on my bedside drawers?" Midnight opened her mouth to accept the parcel. "Thanks," Sapphire said, making a mental note to try to bridge the two pets' relationship. She would go give Snowy the roll as soon as she can. Amethyst had looked at the letter while Sapphire was busy. She tapped Sapphire lightly on the shoulder.

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Amethyst whispered, "Here, read this."

Sapphire took the letter eagerly. She had been so anxious to read her mother's words. It said:

To my dear Sapphire and Amethyst,

I am currently on a job for Dumbledore. It is very important and I despair at not being able to send a farewell at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I miss your already. How are you doing? How is Hogwarts? Did Dumbledore appoint an "extra" teacher? Please write to me at least once a week.

There is also something very important that I need you to know. I cannot say so on this letter for fear of interception. But I hope Victoria finds you well. When you come home during Christmas Break, you can know in detail what I refrain from mentioning now. So, I expect your first weeks of Break, home free. You can invite friends later.

Last of all, I expect you to get the best grades of your year. We did not do all our training for nothing. I do not say that in a harsh tone, but you do have to carry on the family name. Jade has done a good job so far. So if you need help, ask her.

Take care of yourselves. Do not get into trouble. I look forward to your letters and even more to your coming home at Christmas time. Jade has got a letter from me, too. Look after each other.

Best wishes,

Emerald Whitewater

Sapphire folded up the letter and looked over to Jade at the Ravenclaw table. She was looking puzzled at something. But when she noticed Sapphire's face, she put on a grin and waved. Sapphire waved back. She turned back to Amethyst, who was cutting up pieces of scrambled egg and eating carefully. Sapphire stroked their mother's owl, Victoria, in thought. What could be so important that it cannot be mentioned on the letter? Was that what Jade was wondering about?

"Sapphire?" Amethyst waved a hand in front of Sapphire's face.

Sapphire shook herself and blinked, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You were frowning."

"I'm fine. Let's get to class."

Amethyst nodded. The rest of the girls were talking excitedly about the day. Lily asked, "Are you ready? Let's go to Transfiguration."

The twins nodded. They headed out of the great hall and up the stairs.

After five minutes, they arrived outside of the door to their first class. They peeked in. The Gryffindors that were already there were seated and pulling out their wands. The group hustled in to the back of the classroom. The boys were there already, grinning devilishly. Oleander rolled her eyes at them. Lily tossed her hair and sat down. Sapphire sat between Lily and Artemis. On Lily's other side, were Amethyst and Oleander. On the teacher's desk was a cage of an ant farm.

A voice cleared and Professor Averett walked in, "Good morning class, out with your wands."

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Lily suddenly shifted into full attention mode. Sapphire and Artemis both propped up their books, hoping to learn something. Amethyst smiled amused at what's next. Oleander curled her hair around her wand.

Professor Averett walked behind his desk. He was tall and thin. His weathered face was weary, but his expression alert. His appearance seemed to give off a false alarm, however. Around his mouth a merry smile played and his gray eyes shone with excitement. He stretched out a leathery hand and picked up the role call. He called out names in a deep, throaty voice. Then his eyes reached "Whitewater".

"Whitewater?" He looked up and scanned the room for students that have not presented themselves yet. His eyes rested on the twins, "Yes, there are two of you. Amethyst and Sapphire. Do you have a relative—Moonstone?" He gazed intently at them.

Amethyst was coming over the shock that she was the center of attention, "Yes, that is our grandmother. Do you know her?"

Old Professor Averett nodded, "Yes, yes, I did. I did know her for a while… Ahem!" He cleared his throat at the rising conversations. Then he put down the role call parchment and with one last look at the twins, he spoke, "Today I will demonstrate to you the art of shape-shifting, that is—transfiguration…" And he lectured them. "But first, about the year."

Sapphire, Artemis and Lily focused on Professor Averett's every word. He told them about Hogwarts and the history of the castle. It was his house that he was talking to, so they now know who is in charge. Oleander and Amethyst, however, saw the others busy note-taking and took that to their advantage. It was their natural fun-loving, naughty little spirits.

"Olea! Psst!" Amethyst whispered. Oleander turned to her. Amethyst shoved a small piece of parchment into her hand. Oleander read it quickly and scribbled on it, passing it back to Amethyst. Averett was now demonstrating different types of transformations on the ants.

By the end of the class, the piece of parchment was pretty worn from the passing and stashing. It read:

Olea! I'm so bored! Not to be mean about our head of house or anything, but I'm zoning out so much!

Haha, I don't expect much from you, Amy.

What's that supposed to mean?

Nothing, just a joke really.

I'm thinking about Midnight…

Really, Amy? Me, too! I love your kitten, she is so cute! I wish I had a pet, even a snowy owl, like Saphy. Where I came from…

The last sentence seemed to be hastily crossed out

Where did you come from?

Oh, that's not important, Amy. Hey look! Averett's telling us to try some spells on stationary objects, read this quickly and put it away!

Amethyst had stuffed the note into her robe pockets. She accepted an ink bottle cap from Averett. They were to change their objects' colors to orange. Only Sapphire and Lily had managed it on the first try. Artemis seemed somehow distracted by someone else's thoughts.

After class, Amethyst tried to get to Oleander to talk about where she came from. But Oleander avoided Amethyst. The group proceeded to their next class, with the boys following—laughing about something. Sapphire glanced at her watch. There was still time to go give Snowy her treat. She excused herself and rushed towards Gryffindor Tower.

Amethyst followed her, panting, "Saphy! Sa—phy! I have to—tell you—something!" They had reached the fat lady.

"What?" Sapphire spun around quickly, "What is it?"

"It's Oleander. She seemed—to be keeping—some sort of a secret—from me. It is about where she came from." Amethyst pulled out the crumpled note and gave it to Sapphire.

Sapphire scanned it quickly, "Well, we all have secrets. Look at us, Amy."

"Yes, I know… but this seems different somehow." Amy struggled for an answer.

The fat lady cleared her throat impatiently, "Are you coming in or not?"

The twins replied, "Dragonsbane."

As they climbed through the portrait hole, Amy was still really unsure. They headed up the stairs and Sapphire found Snowy snoozing. Sapphire stuffed the roll in the cage along with other owl treats.

Amethyst watched, amused, "And she didn't even do anything. You're going to spoil her."

"Oh nonsense, I just want to get her to like me now—a first impression." Sapphire said stubbornly.

Amethyst sighed, sitting down on her bed, "Something's not right. It was the hasty and panicked way she crossed it out."

"Since when did you become such an expert at deciphering notes?"

"I'm serious, Saphy."

Sapphire glanced at her watch again. "I'm sure you are, Amy, but we have to go." And she led the way out. Amethyst stuffed the note back into her pocket.

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They arrived at Charms to find the others taking a break and chatting in the back. Sapphire realized that they had break and slapped herself on the forehead for rushing here and there.

Lily propped open her book and read aloud about different kinds of charms until Oleander snapped the book shut and said, "We'll hear about it later anyway." Lily put on a mock pained smile, but could not hide her amusement for Oleander.

Slowly, the class filled up as the Gryffindors returned from break. So far, they had only classes with Gryffindors. Amethyst checked her schedule and whispered to Sapphire that they only had a class with a different house tomorrow.

Sapphire blinked, "What is it?"

"Flying, with the Slytherins—every Thursday."

"We have flying?" Sapphire turned her head and checked the room. It was full, but Professor Flitwick was not here yet. "But we aren't allowed our own brooms, the letter said."

"Last time I checked we flied well on any broom."

Sapphire giggled and opened her mouth to reply, but Professor Flitwick had entered. He hopped up on a stack of books excited, winking at the twins.

Charms was no different than Transfiguration, except Flitwick awarded points to the twins for reciting the different kinds of charms, which they had already learned from their mother. The boys were the same as usual, grinning their evil grin and not paying attention (with the exception of James to Lily).

The lesson was quickly over. Oleander avoided Amethyst and sat with Lily on one side and Artemis on the other. The twins sat together. After class, Flitwick dismissed them for lunch and walked over to the twins. The other girls were immersed in conversation and did not notice.

He smiled cheerily at them. They were about half a foot taller than him. He squeaked, "Had a good first day? Around this time next week, you would be turning your time-turners and we would be having our class!"

Sapphire nodded, "This is a little sneaky, isn't it? I mean, having to avoid our friends and well, ourselves."

Amethyst agreed, "Exactly, we might have an accident and have someone see the both of us, with the future us and…I mean…whatever, we may get caught"

Flitwick chuckled and turned back towards his desk, "You won't get caught if you take your time. Remember, time is on your side. It's yours to waste." And he went to shuffle his papers.

The twins looked at each other, and looked at the other girls, chatting about Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. Sapphire sighed and went over to usher the girls to lunch. They looked at her startled. Then all rose and headed out. No one spoke a word. They walked on in awkward silence.

In the Great Hall, they saw Midnight, who was apparently, saving them seats. She scratched anyone who would come close to their section in the table, including the boys.

Sirius exclaimed, "That was the cat that attempted murder on me today!" He smiled and poked at Midnight. Midnight screeched, but backed off for some reason.

"You leave her alone!" Amethyst marched up to Sirius.

"Why? Is she yours?"

"Yes! And you'd better not let me catch you laying a single finger on her!" Amethyst stared him down. Sirius backed away scowling. Amethyst sat down and motioned for the others to sit.

All at once, conversation sprouted again and they chatted happily about their next classes over the week. It was only the first day. Amethyst noticed only one person not joining in as much as she should have—Oleander.

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Midnight was sitting on Oleander's plate, not letting her eat. Oleander tried to push the kitten off, but she would not budge. Midnight looked pleased with herself. Lily had observed what happened between Amethyst and Oleander.

"Olea, why don't you ask Amy to help? Midnight is hers after all." Lily said pointedly.

Amethyst looked over. Midnight was a shrewd cat. Oleander made eye contact and sighed, "Amy, um…would you…could you…um… Midnight is—"

Amethyst reached over and picked Midnight up, setting the cat down in front of her own plate. Midnight licked some milk in the saucer. She looked back at Oleander, "You don't have to say anything. I understand."

Oleander bowed her head down at her plate. Silent tears rolled down onto the plate. She wiped her face on her sleeve and said in a muffled voice, "Forgive me, Amethyst, but you won't understand… You just can't!" She jumped out of her seat and ran away, out the Great Hall.

Amethyst's lips reduced a thin line. She slammed her fork down, "What's wrong with _her_? Have I NOT tried to talk to her?" She stood up to leave, "I'm not hungry."

Sapphire grabbed her sleeve, "Wait! Amy, it's not your fault… she just needs some time to settle—"

"Oh yeah? I never said it was my fault. How _could_ it be my fault?" She pulled out of Sapphire's grasp and exited the Great Hall.

Sapphire looked at Lily and Artemis, confused. They returned her puzzled gaze. Sapphire picked at her food for a while. She set down her goblet, "We need to find them."

They set down their eating utensils and stood up. Midnight walked in front of them. They hurried out, determined to find the other two before History of Magic starts.

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"Let's split up," Lily said, "Luna, you take the Gryffindor Common Room and the dorm, I'll take the inside castle—well, the parts that we know anyway—and Sapphire, you check outside." Luna nodded and went off. Midnight hopped nimbly onto Sapphire's shoulder, wanting to join the fun.

Sapphire said, "Lily, they might be separated. But whomever you find, just be sure to go as calm as possible… Especially," She added, "Amy…"

Lily looked at her, and then nodded, walking away. Sapphire sighed and said to Midnight, "Well, here we go. It's a good thing you came, because you can cheer up either one of them."

She pushed open the great oak doors and stepped out into the bright noon light.

She scanned the school grounds. Not much to see. She headed for the beech instinctively. But she stopped short when she saw who was already there.

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The boys looked up at her unexpectedly. Sirius stopped laughing. James avoided eye contact. Sapphire wondered whether to ask them if they knew where Amethyst or Oleander is, or just turn on her heel and march away.

In the end, she decided to ask, "Did any of you guys see Amy or Olea?"

James looked up, "They're missing?"

Remus asked, "Since when?"

Sirius said playfully, "YOU didn't see them, did you, Pepper?"

Peter shook his head.

Sapphire turned and said over her shoulder, "Well let me know when you do…" And she hurried off towards the other side of the lake.

As she walked, she saw the waters move a little. She yearned to jump in and swim in the mild heat of the day. Besides, the heat is only temporary. Pretty soon it will start raining. She took a step towards the lake then shook her head. She must find Amethyst and Oleander first.

She turned towards the hidden side of the school grounds. There was just a sparse few odd trees jagging up here and there—and THERE was the Whomping Willow.

It stood high and proud, rustling birds out of its branches. Sapphire backed away nervously. She knew this was no ordinary plant. She ran back across the lawn to the green houses and Forbidden Forest. The willow apparently did not notice her. She puffed a little. Then she walked around the green houses a little ways off—near the lake… And who should she find but the one she was looking for…

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**Schedule:**

Monday—Breakfast, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Break, Charms with the Gryffindors (TT: Morphora charms with Flitwick), Lunch, Potions with the Slytherins, Break, Dinner, Break, Bedtime…

Tuesday—Breakfast, History of Magic with the Gryffindors, Break, Transfiguration with the Gryffindors (TT: Morphora animagi with Aberforth), Lunch, Double DADA with the Gryffindors, Dinner, Break, Bedtime…

Wednesday—Breakfast, Transfiguration (TT: Morphora animagi with Aberforth), Break, Charms with the Gryffindors (TT: Morphora Charms with Flitwick), Lunch, History of Magic with the Gryffindors, Break, Dinner, Break (TT: Morphora elements with Dumbledore), Astronomy with the Gryffindors, Bedtime…

Thursday—Breakfast, Flying with the Slytherins, Break, Transfigurations with the Gryffindors (TT: Morphora Animagi with Aberforth), Lunch, Double Potions with the Slytherins, Dinner, Break, Bedtime…

Friday—Breakfast, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Break, Charms with the Gryffindors (TT: Morphora charms with Flitwick), Lunch, Double Break, Dinner, Break, Bedtime…

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"Olea!" Sapphire shouted and raced over to the hunched figure.

Oleander started at the voice but recovered quickly. Her silent tears were penetrating the smooth lake surface. Sapphire heard a splash and saw something in the corner of her eye. When she looked over, though, she saw nothing. Quickly, she sat down and put her arm around the sobbing Oleander.

Oleander shudder, "No stop, Saphy. If you're looking to understand, you won't. I'm a freak, I am. A stupid, loud-mouthed freak… Quit being so nice to me! I don't deserve this."

"Shush, what are you talking about. Be quiet now. You shouldn't complain with such loyal friends at Hogwarts." She turned Oleander to face her, "We are HERE for you…" Sapphire patted Oleander on the back. Oleander seemed so small, a limp body.

Oleander continued to weep. Memories flooded before her eyes. Thoughts cluttered her brain. Her soul was waning. Sapphire saw that Oleander needed to cry out all the things bothering her and let her cry.

But after a while, Sapphire consoled, "Don't cry now. You can talk to me anytime. Don't cry." Sapphire glanced at her watch. "We need to go now. Class has started. I wonder if they had found Amethyst yet."

Oleander looked up, "Amethyst? What do you mean?"

Sapphire sighed, "I mean, she's missing, too."

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Oleander looked down, "See, all I cause is trouble."

"Stop it!" Sapphire said sternly.

Oleander shrank back.

"All you're doing now is being foolish! Have you ever thought that maybe we all have problems sometimes? We all have secrets, pasts, and unspeakable dreams. But that is why we need each other. Now toughen up and lose the tears!" Sapphire glared at her. She shook her head and stood up, pulling Oleander with her, "We can ALL make it, with each other's help. The least you can do is accept it."

Oleander nodded slowly, and started walking towards the castle, "I'll go apologize right now…"

Sapphire walked alongside her, "Great, after we tell Professor Binns we're late."

Oleander looked at Sapphire's silver phoenix watch, "That's a nice watch, magical?"

"Uh-huh, I have bewitched it according to my class schedules daily. It's a helpful little gimmick."

Oleander smiled a little, "I've always thought that I see a bit of Amethyst in you. And you in her. That is just so wonderful… a sibling."

And as they entered the castle, Sapphire gave a sidelong glance at Oleander, and saw her yearning. Sapphire saw a girl, normal just like her, but dreams as big as Sapphire's, too.

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63


	3. IMPORTANT UPDATE slash NOTICE

HEY READERS

…if I have any left. SORRY for the looonnnnngggg hiatus. Morphora is now officially redone. TWO TIMES in fact. I'm still in the beginning stages of the second draft. But I'm posting it somewhere more secure. If you are interested in reading, please contact me via email and we shall talk!

Here is a sneak preview of the prologue:

Meet the girls on the most turning-point-like day of their lives

_She was wearing a wool sweater faded with age—the color of the blue mist surrounding a waterfall. It was getting small for her and so was the long off-white skirt that was yet another notch tighter. On her ear she stuck a pencil that she used to write down anything worth remembering on her pocket notepad. She is a thinker, one who…_


End file.
